A Turn in Climate Politics?

The 22nd Conference of the Parties (COP) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) took place in Marrakech from 7 to 18 November, and with it the first COP after the Paris Agreement. With this conference, the agreement now started in its implementation phase. A change in the US climate policy towards less action against climate change is to be expected in the next couple of years. The international climate policy enters a new era with partly contradictory preconditions: While the US elections suggest more complicated conditions for actions against climate change, on UN level some progress can be registered in Marrakech.

The Wuppertal Institute was in attendance and now presents a first assessment of the conference results, ready for download. It also published a presentation paper - the new series "in brief" of the Wuppertal Institute - on possible consequences of the US elections for the international climate community and policy, showing potential ways of reacting to the looming changes.

Even though the election of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States of America came as a shock to most parties at the climate summit, the majority of states still wants to pursue their actions against climate change - a strong and promising signal.

For further details, please see the first assessment of the COP22 in Marrakech and the In Brief attached below.