In 2015, FAWCO's UN Reps Team and Environment Team collaborated to inform FAWCO members about the proceedings of the UN’s Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties (COP21) held in Paris from November 30 to December 11, 2015. The UN Climate Conference in Paris was of historic importance. While no one from the UN Reps Team or Environment Team were able to attend the Conference, we reported on what was happening. In addition to general background information on UNFCCC (and definitions of the UN’s alphabet soup of abbreviations), we posted summaries of previous UN environment meetings.
In 2016, motivated by the interest of members of AIWC Cologne, FAWCO applied for Observer status at the UNFCCC so our UN Reps could participate in Climate Change Conference sessions in Bonn. We were granted Observer status and three members of FAWCO's UN Reps Team attended meetings in Bonn in May 2017. FAWCO joined the
Women and Gender Constituency of Observer NGOs at the UNFCCC and will continue our coverage of and involvement with the climate conference process.
By Ayuska Motha, UN Rep, AIWC Cologne
Someone recently asked me: “What is the difference between the UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP) and the UN Bonn Intersessional Meetings?”
Terms defined:
UN Climate Change Conferences
The 58th sessions of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice and the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SB58) of the United Nations Framework...
By Ayuska Motha, UN Rep, AIWC Cologne
Every year there is a COP (Conference of the Parties) in November or December as well an Intersessional Meeting that takes place in Bonn in May or June. This year the Intersessional Meeting (UN Climate Negotiations) was held from Monday, June 5 to Thursday, June 15, 2023 in Bonn. This year’s COP (COP28) will...
By Ayuska Motha, UN Rep, AIWC Cologne
For me, COPs have surprisingly started to represent HOPE, and COP27 in 2022 was the ultimate test. I had not attended a COP in person since 2019, and so much had happened in those few years – the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ukraine invasion and related fossil fuel crisis, global inflation and my own personal...
By Guest Blogger Alice Finno
At the annual UN Climate Conference (COP), there are always more applications to attend than there are passes. FAWCO believes in the active participation of our youth. For COP27, we gave one of our available passes to Alice Finno, a student at John Cabot University, who attended the second week of the conference. The...
By UN Rep Tara Scott, AWC Central Scotland
While I was waiting to enter this meeting about protecting global forests by the Office of the US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, I felt excitement that I was able to attend this meeting. As the others around me were making their introductions to each other and declaring their field of scientific...
By UN Liaison Laurie Richardson, AWA Vienna
During COP26 in November 2021, and leading up to CSW66 in March 2022, FAWCO is joining in advocacy initiatives to promote the importance of including women in efforts to combat the climate crisis, and to insist that the differential impacts of climate change on women and girls be examined and taken into consideration...
