I am Thalsa Mekaouche, a third-year undergraduate student at Yale University, originally from France and Algeria. This will be the first of a series of posts on COP 29 as experienced from afar, thanks to CISDL’s virtual online passes.
From where I am, New Haven, Connecticut, I follow COP 29 with both hope and anxiety. Today, I watched civil society stand up for human rights-based approaches to loss and damage. With awe, I listened to a coalition of 33 cities advocating for a plant-based treaty to go alongside the Paris Agreement, which would help smooth the transition to sustainable diets.
Yet, today’s events also raised concerns: the withdrawal of Argentina’s climate negotiators, the refusal from France to send its Minister of the Environment after President Aliyev criticized the country’s action in overseas territories. These recent developments add to the uncertainty created by Trump’s election. And I can tell you that at Yale, where I am fortunate to have the US Principal Deputy Special Envoy for Climate as a teacher (Sue Biniaz), these concerns are very much felt…
Still, I believe that climate action is possible. This community is the proof that people across the world are taking radical and transformative actions, whether it be through law or other means.
It’s only Day 3 of the COP and many things can happen. More importantly, many more audacious actions are taking place outside COP. For this reason, I encourage you to attend, if you can, some of the following events.
November 14th, Press Conference ORAU: Actions to defend indigenous defenders in the Peruvian Amazon ( Press Conference – Natavan, Area D, 9 to 9:30)
November 14th, Side Event LSE, UCT, RIE, IPU: Governance. legal and finance innovations in just and equitable transitions (16:45 to 18:15 Side Event Room 4, Area B)
November 15th, Side Event Asociación La Ruta del Clima, ONG CEUS Chile, FIAN Germany, AAS: Addressing loss and damage, reparations and climate debt: Human rights obligation, not a charity! (15:00 to 16:30, Side Event Room 4, Area B)
November 16th, Side Event UiO, IDLO: How Climate Change Advisory Opinions from International Courts Can Catalyse Climate Action (11:30 to 13:00, Side Event Room 4, Area B