COP (you can pronounce it by letters C.O.P. or ‘cop’), stands for Conference of Parties.
It is a huge important meeting where world leaders come together to discuss and negotiate on ways to reduce our global temperature by 2’C.
COP is organized by UNFCCC,
and it has been taking place since 1994.
Let’s take a look at all the places that had held this important meeting.
Much awaited COP 21 will begin on 30 November 2015.
Be a knowledgeable and alert citizen.
Don’t miss a chance to follow up with what’s happening in COP21.
STAY TUNE with Malaysian Youth Delegation.
Being in the policy track removed layers and layers of presumptions that I had. I see, feel, and understand better the importance of youth coming together in creating action, because the existence of this group in bridging the gap of those suffering and those who are fighting for a stand.
Merryn Chong in action
While delegates were busy fighting to make a stand for respective countries, some were unable to make their voices heard which are often those who are most affected by climate change. In fact, there are also those in the room who could not voice out their opinion because of a lower proficiency in English. It suddenly came to me that aside from differences in nationality, there are so many other social problems and political issues inter-connected in this bigger picture that makes finding a solution for climate change even harder and complex.
I particularly like the metaphor “culture as an onion.” Onions, like cultures, come in different shapes and varieties; the color of the core permeates each layer. If one is not skilled at slicing and peeling an onion, it can cause eye irritation and bring tears to the eye. Similarly, when crossing borders and cultures, we must learn the skills of bridging culture and become culturally sensitive in order to better facilitate negotiation. I must admit that this “eye irritation” did happen during our discussion and meetings. The entire policy track negotiation was not an easy process, even when we acknowledge the different parties’ interests and concerns.
During the short duration of this conference, it has opened up my eyes to more climate change issues and solutions going on in ASEAN region. There is definitely still a lot more for me to learn and improve in this aspect. I often feel handicapped in formulating a statement because there are so many aspects that inter-links with the topic discussed, which I still lack sufficient understanding.
We learned to listen and see things from a different set of eyes – Merryn
When I look back, one heart warming thing is is, I think I have found a new family, a family who consist of brothers and sisters from different parts of Malaysia that shares the same passion and vision. They have given me constructive criticism, support and advice before and throughout the entire ASEAN Power Shift in Singapore. I am grateful for the people I met, the knowledge gained in knowledge track, the invaluable experience in policy negotiation, the homework assigned that pushed me in getting interviews done, and the late night meetings that bond us closer together. These three days has definitely opened my eyes to greater possibilities in the future.
#MYD15 – Malaysian Youth Delegation – Malaysian youth climate movement at international United Nations climate conferences, UNFCCC, participants will be mentored and hold engagements with various climate expert bodies and dialogue with Malaysian policy makers and negotiators.
#ASEANPOWERSHIFT – A conference gathering youths from 10 ASEAN countries with the focus on finding pragmatic and possible solutions to tackle climate change and empower youths with creative skills and knowledge to initiate their own actions.
The last three days flew by so quickly. I somehow wish that we could have had more time to spend with each other, among ourselves (MYD) as well as the other delegates from other ASEAN countries. As I reflect upon the days spent at APS, I am not sure if I achieved the things that I am supposed to achieve.
From left : Singapore, Myanmar, Cambodia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines, Brunei, Laos, Thailand.
To begin, the organizer gave away very little in regards to the activities that awaited the delegates in policy track. All we knew that we had to prepare a National Position Paper. However, the purpose of the gathered data was very much unknown. Another reason is because I tend to not place expectation on things simply to avoid having disappointment. Therefore, if I went there without having an idea what I am set out to achieve, it was difficult to say that I managed to achieve something at the end of the APS.
Despite having said that, into the second day of the conference, I decided for myself to give collaboration to complete the Position Paper. Although I noticed many limitations that underline the Position Paper, such as, the time constrain, language barrier, imbalance participation from the ten countries, lack of necessary knowledge and skills, I disagree with not putting the effort to contribute to the entire discussion and have a negative and pessimistic view about the Position Paper that we tried to produce. To me, not only it would be very discouraging to the enthusiastic vibe that was felt within the room filled with passionate delegates, it may be a loss of an opportunity to learn something during the process.
Then again, some can disagree to my perception whereby since the Position Paper would not be a success (which may be defined as not representative of all youths in 10 countries, not substantial, not contextual…), perhaps the focus should have been driven towards building strong network with other delegates, finding possible collaboration in future projects, understanding each other’s situation.
Team Malaysia and MYD
In the end, due to limited time, we were not successful in producing a proper position paper. But something that we were able to achieve was the have a rather strong Preamble which some say is the most important part of the whole position paper. Although it was not a huge success, I still feel that I did achieve something.
I not only learned about the process of making policies (perhaps not exactly like the actual thing), but through the process of coming up the various policies, I learned about the situation and problems faced by my neighbouring countries in the region. It was truly an enlightening experience for me.
Most importantly, this experience allowed me to get to know my MYD members, to agree and disagree, to work together despite our differences. This was not something I set out to do, but I still eventually did, which is very valuable. Even though I cannot list down everything that I have learned from APS, but I believe that I have unconsciously learned many things, which I will realize in the future. At the moment, I know that I my network have now crossed borders.
To end my reflection, it may be important to know what you are about to do in order to set a clear purpose and target to achieve, but sometimes embracing the unknown can be just as precious for it is filled with surprises. Most of the time, we gain something valuable beyond what we initially set out to do.
#MYD15 – Malaysian Youth Delegation – Malaysian youth climate movement at international United Nations climate conferences, UNFCCC, participants will be mentored and hold engagements with various climate expert bodies and dialogue with Malaysian policy makers and negotiators.
#ASEANPOWERSHIFT – A conference gathering youths from 10 ASEAN countries with the focus on finding pragmatic and possible solutions to tackle climate change and empower youths with creative skills and knowledge to initiate their own actions.
MYD or The Malaysian Youth Delegation is made up of 23 youths who hail from Malaysia, just like you and me. They are just like Abu and Ah Chai or Siti and Kumar or Mei mei and Jane… you get the idea. The point that needs to be emphasized here is that, we are no children of rock stars or the VVIP, we do not possess any superhuman powers, and no, we are not rich nor influential like the Stark’s family.
The MYD was formed because each of us carried something small and invisible within us–a burning pinch of determination and passion to create a just, safe, and livable future for all. We pay attention to issues closed to heart such the climate, the environment and the carbon footprints left by the generations alive today. There is no doubt that many others agree on advocating for climate change and the environment, in fact, there are even more that are working in the same direction as where we are heading. For us, we want to be the voice that sings the song in everyone’s heart. By taking the initiative and lead, we want to encourage others to join in the fight for a sustainable future.
Ever since the official announcement of our success in the selection to join the MYD, we have held meetings and trainings, carried out surveys and even attended an interview with Traxx FM, a local radio station! We do all this because we wish to do a terrific job in presenting to you LIVE UPDATES at national conferences such as the ASEAN Power Shift 2015 that is happening tomorrow! Not only that, we want to do an awesome coverage of the pre-event, during-event and even post-event of the United Nations climate conferences, UNFCCC in Paris , France. We are acting in solidarity with frontline communities in Malaysia and across the globe to seek solutions to some of the biggest challenges humanity has ever faced.
While we strive to sharpen our skills in various fields (e.g. marketing, editing, fundraising, etc.) to bring the best stories to you, not only you can stay tune to our stories on this website, you can share them with your friends and family on your Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms to spread the awareness. If you want to gain some experience in what we do and learn a tip or two, join us during our training series organized by Power Shift Malaysia!
It is cruel fight against rapid development and massive environmental destruction, but with your full support, we can stand tall and proud in the eyes of the world and fight braver than ever to pursue justice for all that is suffering from the effects of climate change.
p/s: Remember to stay tune to our daily updates on ASEAN Power Shift (APS) happening 24-26th of July and keep the discussion active! Send us any questions you haveto our Twitter account @Powershiftmsia or comment belowand we will try to get it answered as soon as possible!
Also, we would like to thank everyone who has shown us their great support in everything that we do, including the recent survey to gather opinions about Climate Change. We have produced a report summary of our findings and it will be used during the Policy Track at APS! Once again, a sincere THANK YOU to all!
Before we forget, let’s introduce the members of MYD at APS!
Bottom row (from left): Rachel Loh, Amalen Sathananthar, Lai Yoke Hwa (Thomas), Merryn Chong Top row (from left): Chua Wan Ji, Low Pau Ling (Roxanne), Tan Mei Peng (Jolene), Mohammad Shakirin Bin Shahrul Jamal, FK Bella Septiarani, Oi Yen Tse (Emily),
#MYD15 – Malaysian Youth Delegation – Malaysian youth climate movement at international United Nations climate conferences, UNFCCC, participants will be mentored and hold engagements with various climate expert bodies and dialogue with Malaysian policy makers and negotiators.
#ASEANPOWERSHIFT – A conference gathering youths from 10 ASEAN countries with the focus on finding pragmatic and possible solutions to tackle climate change and empower youths with skills and knowledge to initiate their own actions.
#MYD Training Series – Training on UNFCCC negotiations and media work with various climate experts, government bodies and civil society leaders, from July until Nov 2015. Each sessions will run for 2 hours and will be broadcast live on Google Hangout. Hangout will be available on YouTube for future reference.
Gan Pei Ling (Journalist and Analyst) – Media and Policy Training
Malaysia is a party in United Nation Framework Convention of Climate Change (UNFCCC) to combat climate change. However, the voices from the youth are often unheard and not taken into account in national policy making. Reference to Article 6 in UNFCCC, (a(iii) public participation in addressing climate change and its effects and developing adequate responses), we foresee the importance of getting the involvement of public especially youth in climate change negotiation process for a better future.
A series of training is designed to effectively provide the exposure to the UNFCCC processes with the active stakeholders. The list includes, Malaysian Negotiator, Guardian’s top young campaigners to watch in the lead up to COP21, award winning journalists, producers, editors and many more.
#MYD – Malaysian Youth Delegation – Malaysian youth climate movement at international United Nations climate conferences, UNFCCC, participants will be mentored and hold engagements with various climate expert bodies and dialogue with Malaysian policy makers and negotiators.
