The 22nd Conference of the Parties (COP22) kicked off in Marrakech, Morocco to discuss implementation of the Paris Agreement adopted last year and solutions to take forward the fight against climate change. Tens of thousands of delegates are expected to attend over the two weeks, with over 40 heads of state and 30 heads of government confirmed as well.
This year, the International Co-operative Alliance was awarded accreditation as an NGO observer organisation. Dr Chiyoge B. Sifa, Regional Director of the Alliance Africa office, and Fran McCrae, Policy and Communications Officer for the global office, participated as delegates in the first week of COP22 to explore co-operative engagement.
The opening plenary heard statements from Salaheddine Mezouar, Morocco’s Foreign Minister and COP22 President, French Environment Minister Ségolène Royal, and Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Over the week, Alliance delegates attended not only the official negotiations, but also side events of relevance to co-operatives. These side events covered topics such as rural electrification, increasing the resiliency of those most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, and the path to staying below a 1.5° temperature change. Many were in response to thematic days of the COP, such as Farmers’ Day, African Women’s Day, and Youth Day.
The Alliance also participated in the meetings of the Business and Industry NGO constituency and the Women and Gender constituency to learn how like-minded NGOs were interpreting the negotiations.
COP22 provided the Alliance with an important opportunity to focus on co-operative engagement in the implementation of the Paris Agreement and to network with policymakers and other social enterprises.
Interested to learn more or to be a co-operative delegate to COP23? Contact Fran McCrae at mccrae@ica.coop.
