COP24 in Poland is the latest episode of the global negotiations aimed at tackling climate change. In the city of Katowice the world’s key climate scientists and negotiators are gathered to agree the rulebook for the Paris Agreement.
Yes, although the Paris Agreement was signed
into force in the COP in 2015 the rules for the implementation of the agreement
remain to be agreed and Katowice is the last chance for the global community to
agree these details prior to the agreement entering into force in 2020. So the
Katowice COP is a key moment in our collective journey to reverse the growing threat
of climate change.
But the negotiations have been plagued by numerous challenges. Not only around the different perspectives and priorities of the negotiators and the countries they are here to represent, but also the complexity of the negotiations. The climate agreement is not only attempting to develop a common set of rules for a global agreement, but a global agreement that covers, mitigation, adaptation and loss and damage, requiring knowledge of forestry, energy, transport, health, disaster risk reduction, etc. The one thing that the negotiators are clear on is the urgency of the issue, with the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) special report on 1.5oC making it clear that we have less than 12 years to implement the actions necessary to limit global warming to less the 1.5oC and the recognition that for every degree of warming above this the consequences will escalate considerably.
But who will be most affected? At the outset it certainly won’t be the people of the developed world. The people who will be most and first affected, the people on the frontline of climate change are the poorest and marginalised, those with the least capacity to respond to the challenge, but also those least responsible for the problem in the first place.
However one of the biggest challenges facing the negotiators is what does climate action look like and how to capture this in the rules so that they are practical? Against this backdrop the Indian Network on Ethics and Climate Change (INECC), organised a side event to bring community centric practitioners together to share their experience of direct climate action, in the hope that these practical examples could inspire the negotiators to understand the context in which the rules need to fit.
The INECC event was entitled “Climate Friendly Technologies: Improving adaptive capacity of women and building resilience”. The event brought specialists from two social enterprises - LAYA Green ventures Ltd, and Samuchit Enviro Tech - and the international NGO Practical Action to present their ideas on locally relevant climate friendly technologies, highlighting technologies that have been proven to be beneficial for the needs of vulnerable communities and emphasising examples of the gender dimension and their benefit for women. Dr. Saleemul Haq, International Center for Climate Change and Development commented on the presentations.
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| Panelists at INECC Side Event: (L to R) Ajita Tiwari Padhi, Priyadarshini Karve, Saleemul Haq, Siddharth D'Souza, Colin McQuistan |
Ajita
Tiwari Padhi from INECC introduced the session,
highlighting why it is important to ensure that technology considers gender
dimensions and the challenges this presents. Priyadarshini Karve from Samuchit
Enviro Tech began the session giving examples of why it is important to involve
end users especially women in the design of technologies. Priya highlighted the
case for fuel efficient stoves. Fuel
efficiency is not only important to reduce emissions from burning fuel wood for
cooking, but also slow down degradation of forest resources. But the problem is
that fuel efficient stoves are designed by engineers and scientists not by women who need to
use them for cooking. Thus the design criteria are energy efficiency with
little or no consideration of whether the stove cooks the food
conveniently. For example some
communities may have diets with a lot of frying requiring high heat for short
periods of time, whereas other diets may prioritise boiling requiring moderate
heat but for much longer periods of time. By involving women in the design and especially the testing of the
stoves such issues can be addresses and the stoves would actually get used in the field.
Unfortunately, Dr. Priya is one of very few women researchers working on fuel efficiency in India. The majority of the stove designers are men. All are working to design fuel efficient stoves for the many
millions of poor women using fuel wood and other biomass sources for home
cooking, but sadly all to often the resulting designs may be great from a GHG
mitigation perspective but fail to meet the individual requirements of the
women who make up the majority of food providers in homes in India.
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| Gender sensitive technology development approach being piloted by Samuchit Enviro Tech |
The next presenter was Siddharth Dsouza of Laya Green Ventures, who presented a
wealth of ideas of how simple technology not only meets the needs of poor
people, but also how this technology can provide multiple benefits such as
reducing drudgery for women in the home, the all too often unrecognised ‘care’
economy. Many simple technologies if designed and rolled out with women’s
empowered participation provides additional co-benefits.
Siddharth highlighted how the shift from
kerosene lamps to alternative forms of lighting, including solar and mini hydro
could deliver numerous benefits. Kerosene lamps are unhealthy creating an
indoor fog of smoke which can cause health problems. So by switching from
Kerosene to electric lights can reduce these health problems. An additional
benefit is that electric lighting is more stable and brighter and allows people
to read and especially children to study after the sun sets. So the switch
delivers additional benefits in respect to reducing eye strain and increasing
educational attainment.
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| Existing and replacement technologies being piloted by Laya Green Ventures |
The final speaker Colin McQuistan from the International NGO Practical Action talked
about the drivers for the development and innovation of technology and the
roles that the various international frameworks play. For example there is a
technology work stream under the climate change convention, but equally there
are technology dimensions to the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015-30)
under the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) as well as
technology consideration in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It is
important to ensure that these international frameworks are coherent,
coordinated, but most importantly do this in a way that delivers technology
that meets to real needs on the ground.
In an attempt to do this Colin has been
developing a framework to assess the knowledge, policy, finance and user input
in the design and selection of technology that is already mobilised and the
technology that needs to be mobilised to reduce risk. In many poor communities the lack of
available technology exacerbates their risk.
For example a poor community could shift their risk profile through
access to technology that reduces this risk, for example an early warning
system that provide early warning of a potential catastrophic flood event.
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| Reporting Framework for Technology to contribute to climate justice |
So where is technology in the climate negotiations?
Are the negotiators listening to the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable
in the design and roll out of technologies to respond to climate change?
Technology is one of the three key means of implementation along with finance
and capacity building. However, the negotiations tend to focus on the finance
issue, as without adequate finance the technology and capacity will be limited.
This is why it is vital to ensure that the
commitment “support, including financial support, shall be provided to
developing country Parties for the implementation of the Article 10 of the
Paris Agreement" are honoured and retained in the Paris Rulebook here in
Katowice.
How can developed country parties expect developing
countries to both rapidly cut GHG emissions and adapt to the serious impacts of
global warming, if they actively deny developing countries the fair
opportunities and support to utilise the most appropriate and transformative
technologies to leapfrog from carbon intensive to inclusive and sustainable green
growth? This is why we are at the
Katowice COP, to try and ensure a fair and equitable outcome for the Paris
Rulebook, making sure that commitments are implemented to deliver technology to
the poorest and most vulnerable, those least responsible for global warming in
the first place.
For further information please contact:Ajita Tiwari Padhi Indian Network on Ethics and Climate Change (INECC)
Priyadarshini Karve Samuchit
Enviro Tech
Siddharth D'Souza Laya Green
Ventures
Colin McQuistan Practical
Action
Blog Post by: Colin McQuistan, Practical Action
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