(Bab Ighli, 11th November 2016) It’s day 5 of the conference and I’m living the dream. I’ve become a regular observer at YOUNGO and CAN Daily meeting, following G77 and China’s coordination meeting, as well as global stocktake (GST) informal meeting under the first session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement (CMA1), and finally allocated time to attend the meeting of the Subsidiary Board for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) on Technology Development and Transfer.

I learnt about global warming 13 years ago, and a whole lot of climate change when I was in my second year of university. After graduation, I’ve never had a single doubt in pursuing an environmental related career due to my interest in climate change. I’m happy to work in the industry where my passion lies. Nevertheless, I never thought I could attend the G77 and China internal coordination meeting at 9am today which is also my fourth consecutive day in meeting room 4, and also witnessed the first ever Facilitative Dialogue (FD) on enhancing ambition and support held in Plenary Casablanca. I couldn’t be more excited to live this dream. I definitely didn’t think about this 6 months ago. The paper and documents from the G77 and China coordination meeting and FD which I’m currently reading is surreal to me.

The FD session prompted a whole new understanding of linkages between ambition and support in terms of Technology Transfer, financial support and capacity building, which mainly focus on achieving pre-2020 mitigation ambition. The Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMA) was heavily discussed as the mechanism is intended for developing countries to submit an application to officially seek technical and financial assistance from developed countries to fulfil their mitigation ambition. Instead, the agenda of the discussion seems skewed as the subject of differentiation, in other words, the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities (CBDR) was once again being ignored as developing countries urged serious approach from developed countries to fulfil their responsibilities in mitigating climate change.

In my opinion, the outcome of the FD simply came short, developed countries took advantage of the platform to showcase their ability in achieving mitigation ambition but were not sincere enough to channel these measures to support the developing countries which require enhanced financial support and climate actions, particularly those that are most vulnerable. It was a disappointment when the principle of CBDR has to be reiterated and to be reminded of the historical emissions and contributions to the present climate.

The day was concluded with the MYD 2016 team finally seizing an opportunity to catch up with Dr Gary Theseira over dinner. It turned out to be a meaningful one as the youth delegates were able to get a good grasp of the knowledge on the history of climate negotiations, the interesting discussion on literature, and most importantly getting to know him in person.

PS, I have also met Captain Planet, a childhood hero of mine in front of Restaurant 1 at the conference. He has been summoned to perform desperate measures at this desperate time. What more shall I ask from a dream? Or should I?

Written by Kelvin Diong
Edited by Choy Moon Moon