Much often do we come across the frustrating situation in the climate change negotiation space where countries just couldn’t compromise on a particular decision because of their political standings. But climate change is an issue that can’t wait. That is why non-state parties had come together, putting in actions before the government in the fight against climate change.

13th November marked the high-level opening of the Global Climate Action track. The Marrakesh Partnership for Global Climate Action witnessed the unity of non-party stakeholder in accelerating climate action deliver before 2020 through the field of finance, technology, and capacity building. Bonn zone was busier during Week 2 because of all the non-party stakeholder moving around rooms, sharing best practices and coming together in bringing better and faster climate actions.

Mr. Inia Seruiratu, the Fijian minister for Agriculture and the Minister for Rural and Maritime Development and National Disaster Management graced the session with his opening remarks, highlighting the urgency of climate actions from non-party stakeholders. Governor Jerry Brown also gave his opening remarks, highlighting many good practices undertaken in California as a state. He stresses that it is important to generate enthusiasm to go against the inertia in the call for a decarbonized world. My favorite quote from his speech was “everyone is responsible, but no one is in charged,” which I find very relevant in the international climate change negotiation space. Because of the regime, it is hard (or in other words, not allowed) to pinpoint someone to take leadership for the process. That is why the significance of non-state party stands out in the quest for faster climate action. Non-party stakeholders are mobilized and borderless, ready to take on actions in solving the problem.

The main speaker for the opening was Mr. Betrand Piccard, the initiator of Solar Impulse, the world’s first airplane capable of flying perpetually without fuel. He started his speech explaining the inspiration behind Solar Impulse. Many were petrified by the idea of building a fuel-less plane because it is impossible from an energy production standpoint. But Mr. Piccard was not discouraged by that fact, “if production is not enough, then you need to change on consumption”, he believes that both production and consumption is important in the equation of finding the best solution to climate problems. I think one of the interesting points he made was through his bathtub analogy, mentioning that it is more important to plug the leak than filling in more water. Mr. Piccard’s central focus was on how we could change people’s paradigm to promote sustainability. I do agree with him when he said that being sustainable is not ecological, but logical. As an innovator himself, he stressed the need for better legal frameworks to draw existing innovation into the market.

The opening of the Global Climate Action track brought a sense of urgency and inspiration to climate action. It highlighted that the long-term goals of negotiation are not a celebration because the people who proposed it will no longer be around to be accountable for their decisions. But most importantly, it reminds us of how there are so much knowledge and technology around us that could be implemented to fight climate change right now. There is no need to wait for innovation because we can do it now.

Written and Photos by Xiandi

Edited by Varun