Sara Muir Owen was asleep halfway across the world when the U.S. election results started to roll in.
She woke up the next morning in Marrakesh, Morocco, to stunning news: The victory of Donald Trump. Equally shocked were delegates at the Conference of the Parties (COP22), a United Nations conference on climate change, which Muir Owen was attending.
“People were clearly in shock,” recalled Muir-Owen, program coordinator for the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions. “There was a palatable concern about where we do go from here? Not only for the American delegation, but also how it would influence Canadian policy.”
Muir Owen recently spoke to the UBC Sustainability Initiative about COP22, her work with the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions and addressing climate change in the age of Trump.
In 2015, you went to COP21 in Paris, where the Paris Agreement was ratified. What was your experience like at COP22 in Marrakesh?
The most disconcerting news, of course, was the result of the U.S. election. At the start of COP22, there was a very positive spirit and a sense that what the Obama administration had put forth, the U.S. commitment to the Agreement, was going to follow forward with Hillary Clinton’s election. Of course, less than one week into the talks, that didn’t happen.
A striking realization, for me, was the incredible achievement of the Paris Agreement in the first place. Being at COP22 and witnessing the meetings made me appreciate the complexity of the process. How mindboggling it is to have all of these countries come together and sign-off on such a commitment is truly incredible. It’s so complicated to navigate that kind of governance process amongst 196 countries—having each one speak to aspects of the agreement, to refine it, to sign off on it, and to continue to commit to work to implement it. History really was made in Paris with the signing of the agreement.
The U.S. is a key player and heavy contributor of climate change issues and impacts and now there’s the potential of them withdrawing from the agreement. When you have one country that plays such a critical role suddenly speak in a different tone, it can change the conversation.
That being said, the president of the United Nations announced that morning that the Paris Agreement isn’t held together by the U.S., and that other countries are committed to addressing climate change, regardless of the U.S.’s position.
What were some of the concerns shared by the Canadian delegation after Trump’s victory?
The Canadian delegation did not comment on the U.S. election at that time. There wasn’t a lot of information officially shared by Canada about the results of the election at the event. There was, however, a lot of speculation among many attending about how a new agenda for the U.S. might cause challenges in balancing industry and environmental demands in Canada.
A common criticism of climate change agreements is that they make empty promises. Often, there’s little accountability if targets aren’t met. Do these agreements actually work?
I have to believe that they can. The Paris agreement did require that countries ratify the agreement with their nationally determined contributions. Canada’s commitment is 30 per cent reduction by 2030, which was the same target that Harper had adopted years before. So it’s not any more ambitious than we’ve seen in the past, and I do believe it is doable for Canada.
Nonetheless, the nationally determined contributions countries have submitted as part of the agreement are still not capable of meeting the two-degree limited global warming that the nations had signed on for. With the commitments that have been brought forward, we’re still looking at three degrees or more of warming.
That’s the greatest challenge. COP22 meeting was about how to create a work program that would measure, monitor and create a framework to evaluate the nationally determined contributions, and then commit to reporting and ratcheting these commitments up. There was a big concern about transparency at the meeting, what a transparency framework looks like, and making sure that it’s not just rhetoric, but that the countries are achieving, through a transparent, measurable means, what they’ve committed to.
What are some tangible results we’ve seen from climate change reduction?
We’re seeing cities around the world taking serious steps to become more energy efficient, transition from fossil fuels and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. I think that’s what going to need to happen when you’re talking about climate change. Vancouver is always an easy place to point to when you talk about climate action. It just adopted earlier in 2016, a commitment to rely on 100 percent renewable energy by 2050.
The big sectors outside of industry that cities can address in partnership with provinces and the feds are buildings and transportation. It’s going to take multi-jurisdictional partnership to address building codes and programs that can help cities adopt renewables, build green through the future and retrofit their older buildings. We need multi-jurisdictional programs that can help with mobility and transportation: electrifying the passenger-vehicle fleet, pushing on viable transit options for the future and thinking of innovative and fuel-switching opportunities for commercial transportation.
There are countless examples and opportunities of this type of action in the U.S., too. Despite the new administration, states and local governments are still moving forward in lowering greenhouse gas emissions. And in so doing, many of them are looking to being energy independent, saving money on energy — and keeping what you do pay within the local economy. Addressing climate change in this way makes fiscal sense and that plays well to any public constituency.
How does the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions help advance the global effort against climate change?
The more I get to travel to these and other conferences, the more I recognize how unique PICS is. In 2008, B.C. became a leader in North America with its climate change commitments, including the Ministry of Environment’s $94 million endowment, the largest in Canadian history, to the University of Victoria to create an institute that focused on climate change solutions.
PICS is a partnership institute among B.C.’s four research-intensive universities focusing on collaborative, innovative and applied research to address climate change. In 2015, PICS launched its Big Five research program. The program is framed around the five big greenhouse gas contributors/sectors for the province.
For example, one of the projects looks at energy efficiencies in the built environment. A second is exploring zero emissions transportation options for B.C.’s future. Another is looking at carbon management and B.C.’s forests. There’s research that focuses on the liquefied natural gas industry. Finally, there’s Project 2060, which is looking at hydroelectric grid integration with renewables and how we could extend that grid east-west to help Alberta, for instance, to offset some of it’s coal-powered electricity. We’ll get results in these big five areas over the next two to three years.
In addition to its research program, PICS supports graduate students through fellowships and internships on climate change research. Since PICS started in 2008, we’ve had more than 70 students graduate with specific climate change research knowledge that’s very applied, solution-based and relevant to B.C. Now, many of those students are working professionals and are continuing to assist B.C. in leading on climate change in industry, local government and research.
What’s next for the institute?
I’m hopeful that PICS’ role will be further refined through the future to continue to create unique partnerships and multi-disciplinary approaches to addressing our biggest climate change challenges. I’d like to see it become a sophisticated, strategic climate change convener, bridging the academic expertise with industry, non-governmental organizations and advocacy groups, working together to develop and implement, regionally and internationally, a lot of great solutions.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
