We had all sorts over for the last few days. Al Gore yesterday. This bloke today. All with the same message. ‘we have to Do… and now!’
Vinaka is thank you in Fijian. I have now completed my stint at COP. I have gained much more than I gave. So many lessons learnt from my side and many of ours in National Trust Wales shared. It is a Sunday which from previous COPs is a day of rest. But not this year. I was in early as WWF were hosting a Global EV side event. Roseanna Cunningham from Scottish Gov was an inspiration speaker in intent and ambition for an EV near future for Scotland (100% by 2032). Only trumped by the Oslo vice mayor Lan Marie Berg who is already getting there in scale and sheer breadth. We also had Dr Becker from BMW who said the future is electric but it’s causing a head scratcher for them in terms of business planning e.g. 63% of all BMW’s sold in Norway are EV’s but only 1% in Italy. All governed by National, regional and then urban priorities. One thing he said which is true for Wales that if the infrastructure is not there… the car take up will not follow. Job for government! Oslo gearing up for another 600 rapid chargers! One thing though in the event was the focus was more urban than rural… but I suppose you start where the population is. But Norway is keeping an eye on social justice
As I keep telling people. I am not competitive… at all. Even through I was winning the EV quiz at the Global EV event. I am not competitive! “back of the net” … at all!
A certain Mr Schwarzenegger was in da house. Next to our afternoon presentation actually. You could spot him in our zone just by the crush of TV cameras. It was my last presentation this pm before heading back home. Heritage and the impact of climate change. It was a shame again that the ones most impacted are the ones who will lose the most of their cultural inheritance. Oliver carries on for the next week. best of luck!
The not so stop me in my tracks part of today was the normal use of EV and hydrogen buses in the city?… and why not!
A lot of the EV Bonn buses. It was strange not seeing belching black smoke, the knock of the engine. All you hear was a slight whirr from the electric motors. cool!
Learnt a new word today which is the same as our Welsh word for place, people, belonging, defining… difficult to translate ‘Cynefin’ which in Fijian is Vanua
The Fijian pavilion before the throngs arrived at COP. Such a good place to ‘have a chat’ and discuss big subjects. The german site was really good as well… might have been because of the excellent low-carbon coffee but I can’t comment
Vinaka COP23! (more to come as I assimilate a lot of the info I have gathered over the last week or so. Now on to London to run my annual lecture for New York University
