I started writing "The actual math doesn't work", stopped, shivered, and checked if I'd written that before...

It is also giving me deja vu. I'm working on a more detailed analysis of the MOU, and was reminded of writing this for a similar analysis nine years ago:

Don't let perfect be the enemy of really good.

The name made me wonder if the folks involved were fans of the Wrath of Khan, with its "Project Genesis" plotline

Certainly, the news is not all good... my issue here is that much of what was on display at COP is not in the reporting.

I know the CBC was live on the ground much of the time, and following all the proceedings. Can't speak for other organizations.

Yes! It is a hot, crowded, underfed zoo! See my video...

My critique here is really that the coverage is obsessed with the letter of the agreements and the geopolitics of the negotiatons, and not paying nearly enough attention to the energy outside those rooms.
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A few, though I was focused on work related to international climate councils advice and not near the media areas much

Fair, though keep in mind the action of movers was on display at COP, it just isn't reflected on consensus based text that is driven by broader geopolitical issues. Focusing on the final cover text and missing the panels at the China, solar, etc. pavillions is missing much of the story.

Bang on! Though it's been a problem with COP coverage for years now, it was more noticeable than ever this year. You've got dozens of pavilions talking about action on solar, batteries, adaptation, etc. and all the reporting is on telling but largely symbolic cover text weakened by a few parties.

I agree, I think we're saying the same thing, perhaps I could have worded it better. Basically Paris and the UNFCCC process helped seed the clean energy revolution. Now that Paris is in effect, the focus is implementation, and that is what is on display outside of the negotiations.

This jumped out because it's a message one usually hears more outside of COP, not at COP. Granted, the focus was more national > international, though subnational came up in relation to the US.

Yes, though strange bedfellows on CBAM though. Was fascinating to watch a EU representative argue that it isn't meant to penalize or take manufacturing from China at an event at the China Pavillion.

5) Global divide: There is an emerging schism between countries clinging to a colonial and extractive past and those moving to the future. It extends beyond the fossil fuel vs clean energy divide to whether adaptation relies on top-down initiatives vs. local and Indigenous efforts and knowledge.

4) US being left behind: The US absence was quickly normalized. Whether out of frustration or honest conviction, delegates spoke of the US declining in relevance. As an African govt rep said: “Americans should realize the world is moving on from them... other nations are this as an opportunity.”

3) Unilateral trade measures: While the Trump tariffs came up, the bigger focus was the EU’s carbon border adjustment mechanism which will place a tariff on imports from countries without a C price. Some developing nations pushing for global climate action worry about the domestic economic impact.

2) Carbon dioxide removal: With the planet poised to 1.5 °C warming in the next few years, talk of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and limit "overshoot" abounded. Unfortunately, events about technological and more nature-based approaches happened without enough cross pollination.

1) Whither COP: With the Paris Agreement in place, many delegates I spoke with wondered whether the outside panels and conversations about the clean energy revolution and real-world adaptation were now more important than the geopolitics on display in the negotiating rooms.