It’s official now: I will be attending the COP26, the 26th Conference of Parties of the UNFCCC, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. In 2015, The “Paris Agreement” was ratified on the COP21, so I think it’s fair to say, the COP is the most influential conference on climate change in the world. This becomes more important as I am traveling as an official member of the Max Planck Society delegation, the non-governmental academic entity that is home to 2 nobel prize laureates in 2021, one receiving the nobel prize in physics (Klaus Hasselmann) for climate simulations, and the other one in chemistry (Ben List), coincidentally from the very Max Planck Institute I am affiliated to. So, there is a certain formal weight on my presence there, which is especially funny because I have not the slightest clue about anything that is going to happen. It is clear, though, to me, that my presence there will be of nothing but scientific nature in the form of my representation. It’s a bit of a pity that this formally excludes direct action, but I think I can live with that.
However, I think, as an anti-hierarchical believer in information hierarchies, I do have another duty: to make my experience and my critical analysis of what I observe publicly available to people without the privilege of attending the so called “Blue Zone”, which is the part of the conference that is for invited guests only.
My invitation is from 8th to 12th November, which is the second week of the whole conference spanning over two weeks, from 31st October to 12th November. I will be traveling with my mobile house, Ellis Dumbledore, a so-called rehabulance (retired ambulance) which will cost some diesel (which I compensate anually), but comes with an integrated bed, so I only have to pay for my travel expenses, not for any accommodation. It’s the first experiment within my COP26 experience: What is the minimum of resources I have to spend to attend this conference? What is the classist threshold, apart from the exclusionary character of the whole meeting? In terms of environmental impact, train would probably be the better transportation, but I guess Ellis wins in accommodation to any hotel.
I hope by the end of my journey, there will be more answers than questions. If you, however, want me to add a certain perspective or answer a certain question along my way, let me know:
yodathealchemist [at] riseup [dot] net
I’ll keep you posted.