Hello there ?
We're back with an update - this time from the train on the way back to Vienna, because our time at the SBs is already over. ?

We were in Bonn for the first week of negotiations and gathered lots of impressions. Here is a short recap and an outlook on climate policy in the next months.

If you want to find out more about everyday life at the conference, feel free to check out our social media channels @climatesaustria

So many things are negotiated in parallel during the SBs that it is not easy to keep track of everything. That's why we are very happy to be working in a network with European youth delegates.
Together, we can give more power to the voice of young people. This week, we attended several EU coordination meetings, where we also presented the joint position paper and put forward our concerns. The topics of climate justice and the new climate finance target were particularly important to us. You can read the exact content of our intervention here.

As announced in the last newsletter, an expert dialogue on the impact of the climate crisis on children took place for the first time. We followed this dialogue with great interest, as the needs and vulnerabilities of children are often not taken into account in the negotiations. This is despite the fact that ⅓ of the world's population is under the age of 18 and children and young people are disproportionately affected by the climate crisis. The voice of young people is also often rather weakly represented in the negotiations at the COP. This must change! We want to work to ensure that this is not just a one-off dialogue, but that the discussion continues and that the needs of children and young people are given greater consideration in the negotiations.

At the moment, it is still very difficult to give an update on the concrete results of the negotiations at the SBs, as they will continue over the next week (and months until COP29). However, it is already clear that COP29 will be about ??.

The current climate finance target provides for 100 billion US dollars per year from 2020-2025, which must be provided by industrialized countries for developing countries. However, this does not come close to covering the demand and the division of countries into industrialized and developing countries is now outdated. However, the new goal (New Collective Quantified Goal) still leaves many questions unanswered: who pays how much, for how long and in what form? Where does the money come from and what can it be used for? What happens if the goal is not reached?

As you can see, the new climate finance target (NCQG) covers many points and it is still unclear what a text will look like. The SB60 will at least try to finalize draft texts on the basis of which negotiations can take place at COP29. The final figures and modalities will only be decided in Baku, because this is a political, not a technical issue.

As youth delegates, we are campaigning for the EU to strive for the most ambitious target possible in line with its responsibility for climate justice.

However, ambitious climate policy also requires political majorities. How we vote determines how climate protection is pursued. That is why it is so important that we all go to the EU ?? elections on Sunday and cast our vote! ?

We will be posting updates here regularly, even daily during COP29! Feel free to forward this newsletter to other people who might be interested.
If you have any questions, requests or suggestions, you can reach us at [email protected]

Lovely Greetings,
Theresa, Sigrid and David
UNFCCC Youth Delegates

Linktree

@europeanyouth.climate | Linktree

CONTACT: [email protected]

Start of SB60 in Bonn | Update from the new youth delegates
Hello, we are Sigrid and Theresa, the new Austrian UNFCCC youth delegates. We are reporting from Bonn today with an update on the international climate negotiations ?

The 60th session of the UNFCCC subsidiary bodies (SB60) is taking place here from June 3-13. Representatives from all over the world will come together to work on the framework conditions for climate protection. The negotiations in Bonn focus on technical aspects and are an important basis for the political negotiations at the major climate conference COP29, which will take place in Azerbaijan in November. ??

The global stocktake at COP28 in Dubai showed unmistakably that global ambitions in terms of climate protection must be increased at all costs. This is why important topics are on the agenda this year: a new climate finance target (New Collective Quantified Goal / NCQG) is to be set and mitigation, adaptation and loss and damage will also play an important role. Our central concern is that climate justice is consistently considered. ?‍⚖️

For the first time, an expert dialogue will take place tomorrow in Bonn that addresses the special impact of the climate crisis on children. Children and young people make up 40% of the world's population and suffer disproportionately from climate change. Currently, one in four deaths of children under the age of five is due to unfavorable environmental conditions. Respecting children's rights also means making climate policy that is fair to all generations. ?

We are particularly looking forward to a stronger exchange and cooperation in person with other European youth delegates. Together we are already preparing for a meeting with the EU heads of delegation. On that note: You can view the position paper of the European youth delegates here.

We will be in Bonn for the first week to follow the negotiations. Follow us on social media https://instagram.com/climatesaustria to get regular updates from the SBs. You will also find out more about the new youth delegates there soon.

We are already super excited about the process and a little nervous too. We will do our best to take you along, give you an impression of the negotiations and share the results.
We would be delighted if you would accompany us on this journey. Feel free to share the newsletter with people who might also be interested (link is in the description).

If you have any questions, requests or suggestions, you can reach us at [email protected]
We will get back to you with an update at the end of the first week of negotiations.

Best regards,
Theresa, Sigrid and David
UNFCCC Youth Delegates

Linktree

@europeanyouth.climate | Linktree

CONTACT: [email protected]

We Want YOU! ✨
Climate Youth Delegates wanted for COP29 and COP30! ?

Did you find our newsletter exciting, are you between 18 and 26 years old, and are you interested in reporting firsthand from the negotiations at the next two UN climate conferences?

? Then apply here as the Austrian UNFCCC Youth Delegate for the UN Climate Conference! ?

As a Austrian Climate Youth Delegate, you will participate alongside CliMates Austria and the Austrian delegation at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan from November 11th to 24th, 2024, and at COP30 in Brazil from November 10th to 21st, 2025. The aim is to represent the voice of youth on-site and to closely monitor the proceedings. ?

We are looking for two new Youth Delegates, the program lasts two years (!) and is funded by the Ministry of Climate.
- A German level of C1 is required.
- An Austrian citizenship is NOT required - still your center of life has to be in Austria during the program.
- Good basic knowledge of the climate crisis and/or climate policy is desirable, but all details can be found on the website.
? https://climatesaustria.org/projekte/climate-youth-delegate-bewerbung-cop29/

❗️ The deadline is on February 26th, 2024 ❗️

Feel free to reach out with any questions to: [email protected]

Please also forward this to anyone who might be interested!
We look forward to your application!

CliMates Austria

Bewerbung als Climate Youth Delegate für die COP29 - CliMates Austria

Our present under the Christmas tree? ?
- Your feedback! ?

Thank you so much for taking part!
As we are of course very interested in what you liked and what we can improve in the future, we would really appreciate your feedback!
It only takes 3 minutes.

? Here thefeedback form

We wish you happy and relaxing holidays! ?
See you next year!

Your UNFCCC youth delegates from CliMates Austria,
Jasmin, David, Lena and Philipp

Google Docs

Feedback for the CliMates Austria COP28 Newsletter

Welcome! We want to hear your views. What do you think about our newsletter?

But even these sums are far from sufficient. In the Paris Agreement, the states actually agreed to make USD 100 billion available annually from 2020, but have not delivered on these sums. At the upcoming COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, a new, higher financing target from 2025 on - the New Collective Quantified Goal - is on the agenda.

?? What does this mean for Austria?
These resolutions must now be implemented. In concrete terms, this means that Austria must urgently present a plan on how to successfully transition away from fossil fuels. As a rich country with a large proportion of historical emissions, we have a special responsibility and must lead by example. While countries such as China are six years ahead of their climate targets, Austria is lagging behind the ambitions it has set itself.

By failing to meet the EU climate targets, we are facing fines in the millions - we better invest this money in climate protection measures today. To do so, we also need an effective climate protection law that sets out the roadmap for achieving climate neutrality by 2040. 

Austria also signed a declaration with other countries at COP28 on phasing out fossil fuel subsidies. Finance Minister Brunner must therefore present a reduction plan for fossil fuel subsidies and cut them in half before the end of this legislation period. In order to maintain its own credibility, Austria must not only make big promises on the international stage, but must also implement them nationally. We will measure this government by deeds, not words. 

? Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter! We will keep you up to date on international climate policy ?****

Follow us on our Instagram channel, where we post climate policy content throughout the year: www.instagram.com/climatesaustria

We would also be delighted if you would like to attend our Post-COP-Event on January 24, 2024 at 18:30 - either online or in the Audimax of the University of Vienna. We will summarize the most important results of COP28 and you can ask us questions about the climate conference. You can find more information here (note: it will be held as part of a university lecture, but anyone can attend without registration): https://ufind.univie.ac.at/de/course.html?lv=290209&semester=2023W 

See you next year, 
your youth delegates Jasmin, David, Lena and Philipp ❤️

End of COP28 and historic decision to transition away from fossil fuels

After two long nights, the UN Climate Change Conference came to a decision yesterday. After weeks of negotiations, the new text was adopted in plenary after just a few minutes. We have summarized the most important results for you:

? First Global Stocktake
The international community has agreed on a text for the first Global Stocktake. This Global Stocktake showed where we stand with regard to achieving the Paris climate targets: we will fall far short of the 1.5 degree limit with current measures. This gap between the agreed targets and the required measures should therefore be highlighted and closed: countries must commit to a course correction. 

The countries of the Global North should lead by example as they have a historic responsibility. But the reality looks different: In the final text, the international community expresses concern that the developed countries did not reduce their emissions sufficiently - they should have reduced their emissions by 25 to 40 percent between 1990 and 2020. In Austria, for example, they have barely dropped from 1990 levels. The world is therefore currently on course for a temperature increase of 3°C which will trigger dangerous tipping points. In the run-up to the climate conference, scientists and civil society therefore called for countries to jointly agree to phase out fossil fuels.

? Decision to transition away from fossil fuels
Now a decision has been adopted that calls on countries to be “transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems”. This is the first time in the history of climate conferences that fossil fuels have been explicitly mentioned in a final text. This was long overdue and is nevertheless a historic success - many see it as the beginning of the end of the fossil fuel era.

Targets such as tripling renewable energy capacity or doubling energy efficiency improvement rates by 2030 were also agreed. It is therefore the beginning of a turning point: away from the fossil fuel age and towards the era of renewable energies. However, the fossil fuel phase out which was advocated for by many countries and civil society was effectively blocked by oil states such as Saudi Arabia.

The fossil lobby has also claimed sham technological solutions and weak, non-binding language into the text. For example, only a phase down instead of a phase out of coal was agreed on and the language on phasing out - inefficient - fossil subsidies was also very diluted. However, high-risk technologies and greenwashing of fossil fuel business models will not get us past the necessary phase out of coal, oil and gas. The science is very clear on this.

⚡️ Loss and Damage
The Loss and Damage Fund has also been set up and is already partially financed. It is a success for climate justice: for over 30 years, countries in the Global South have been fighting for such a compensation mechanism since they are particularly affected by the impacts of the climate crisis, such as droughts, floods and rising sea levels. 

Nevertheless, this agreement comes too late for many countries and the funding is insufficient. It does not cover the need, which is estimated at around 400 billion dollars per year in 2030. So far, states have only pledged 700 million dollars in payments to this voluntary support mechanism. The Guardian writes that this covers less than 0.2% of the expected irreversible losses and damages. The battle to finance those climate-related losses and damage caused by the polluter states will therefore continue at the next world climate conferences.

? Climate finance
As part of the COP, some countries have pledged to increase their climate financing. UNFCCC writes that the Green Climate Fund is now endowed with USD 12.8 billion. Other funds, such as the Least Developed Countries Fund and the Special Climate Change Fund now have a combined USD 174 million and the Adaptation Fund USD 188 million at their disposal - Austria has pledged USD 20 million for adaptation. 

the Guardian

$700m pledged to loss and damage fund at Cop28 covers less than 0.2% needed

Money offered so far falls far short of estimated $400bn in losses developing countries face each year

?☀️Ray of the Day: Colombia ?? 
Another way is possible: This prize is rarely awarded but goes to countries that lead by example. Colombia was the beacon of hope at this COP: They stood up resolutely for the phase-out of fossil fuels - in the negotiations, in speeches and by joining the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance. They also stood out positively by highlighting the connection between peace and climate action and through the exemplary involvement of civil society. Other countries can only take a leaf out of their book.

? People's Plenary
Yesterday afternoon, the People's Plenary took place. It was a platform for civil society organizations where many young people took to the stage. The topics were as diverse as they could be: From indigenous and women's rights to the role of farmers, workers and trade unions, many topics were addressed - with numerous standing ovations. Conflicts in the context of the climate crisis, whether in Sudan or Palestine, also moved people to tears. An emotional plenary session, the likes of which are not often seen at this conference.

An extremely emotional and nerve-wracking day lies behind us. Negotiations went on all night and will continue today where it will become clear who can prevail in them. This will determine whether we can keep the 1.5 degree limit alive or whether the Paris Agreement is nothing more than a distant dream. Our future is at stake.

Day 12: Will this COP end in a historic catastrophe?

We are in the middle of the final spurt of COP28 and negotiators, activists and politicians have one thing in common: the long wait for new draft texts. The text that was announced at 8 in the morning only appeared shortly before 6 in the evening - 10 hours of hoping for a draft text that would do justice to a climate conference. But the wait was not worth it: you could see the disappointment on the faces of the people who had read the new draft.

? Fossil fuel phase-out: a drama in several acts
In the morning, people were still waiting patiently for the new text, delays are not unusual here. At the delegation meeting at 4 p.m., you could already sense the impatience in the room: it is supposed to come out soon. Nobody knew what was would await us - not even Climate Minister and EU negotiator for Adaptation Leonore Gewessler. People were puzzling over whether it would be a phase out or a phase down, whether there were technological loopholes - but the fact that the fossil fuel phase out got downgraded to a mere possibility of “reducing both consumption and production of fossil fuels” shocked most people. 

? Several actions on the Fossil Fuel Phase Out occurred during the day:
In the plenary session, Licypriya Kangujam, a 12-year-old indigenous climate activist from India, held up a sign that read "End fossil fuel. Save our planet and our future". The reaction: she was expelled from the COP venue, her badge was revoked - and her future shattered.

? Walk of Shame
A plenary session started late yesterday evening, in which states commented on the draft text. Beforehand, human chains were formed: the negotiators first had to walk through a corridor of young people to get to the meeting room - this was a reminder of their responsibility for future generations. 

Many countries were also deeply disappointed by the extremely weak draft and strongly questioned the meaningfulness of the text without a fossil fuel phase out. They emphasized the importance of keeping the 1.5 degree goal alive. Even before the plenary session, some countries expressed their views publicly - the reactions were extremely emotional, with great anger, indignation and disappointment:

For example, the Marshall Islands - part of the Small Island Developing States (SIDS), whose existence is threatened by rising sea levels - emphasized: ??
"[We] did not come here to sign our death warrant. We came here to fight for 1.5C and for the only way to achieve that: a fossil fuel phase-out [...]. We will not go silently to our watery graves."

EU Climate Action Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra also made it very clear: ??
"The text as it now stands is disappointing and not adequate to address the problem we are here to tackle. The science is clear: we need to phase out fossil fuels. We have to continue the conversation."
?A special day of negative awards and a ray of hope
The Climate Action Network (CAN) also assessed certain countries’ behaviour. Yesterday, with the negotiations coming to an end, there were several negative award winners:

? Fossil of the Day: Saudi Arabia ??
Saudi Arabia has earned the first price at the Fossil of the Day award for its fierce resistance to a fair and just phase-out of fossil fuels in the negotiations. 

? Colossal Fossil: USA ??
However, the honorary prize for the "biggest and baddest" Colossal Fossil went to the United States. "With great power comes great responsibility": As the country with the highest historic emissions, it is still trying to delay the phase-out of fossil fuels by using watered-down language. CAN also criticized the ridiculous contributions to the Loss and Damage Fund and the veto on the ceasefire in Gaza.

? A dishonorable mention was also given to OPEC for continuously blocking the fossil fuel phase out.

? Fossil Fuel Phase Out disappeared - BREAKING from COP28
The new draft text on the GST has been published after 10 hours of waiting.
It is a massive step backwards. Here is our reaction:

"The new draft text for the Global Stocktake, especially the part on energy, is a disaster. Instead of deciding to phase out fossil fuels, all that has been presented is a series of recommendations that countries can choose to implement - or not. There is only talk of reducing - rather than phasing out - the production and consumption of fossil fuels. Instead of finally heralding the end of the fossil fuel era, the COP28 presidency is making it almost impossible to reach the Paris climate goals and thereby causing lasting damage to trust in multilateralism. The EU now has a responsibility to stop this madness. It must prove which side of history it is on."
- UNFCCC youth delegates for COP28

The population-wise huge block of Like-Minded Developing Countries (LMDCs, including China, India, and Saudi Arabia) emphasized yesterday that a Fossil Fuel Phase-Out would need to be fully financed, fair, and based on the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities (CBDR).

? Majlis - a traditional high-level circle
In the search for a breakthrough, COP28 President Al Jaber took the unusual step on Sunday of convening a "Majlis" - an Arabic term for a community assembly - in which delegations sat facing each other in a large circle. The delegations reiterated their positions, and it was not immediately apparent whether the forum led to a shift in positions. Here you can find an exciting summary, and the statements from Colombia are particularly worth reading.

Keen observers noted that the top climate diplomats from the USA and China were mostly absent and had been engaged in intensive talks in recent days. Close communication between the two world powers is traditionally interpreted as a good omen for COP results.

? Coalition for an end to fossil subsidies
The Netherlands have launched a coalition to eliminate subsidies for fossil fuels. Triggered by an analysis by the Dutch government, which found that about half of financial support for fossils is tied to international agreements. This was prompted by weeks of mass protests. Accordingly, there is an urgent need for an international solution to achieve the exit (or redirecting of funds to renewable projects). The number of supporting countries is still limited, but fortunately, Austria is among the states that already support the initiatives of the Dutch. The Austrian government, especially the Ministry of Finance, is called upon to follow up words with actions and present an exit plan from fossil subsidies.

the Guardian

Cop28: ‘failure is not an option,’ says summit president – as it happened

Sultan Al Jaber calls for countries to come together amid disagreements over the future of climate action