World leaders gather in Marrakech, Morocco, for COP22.
Streaks of lightning lit the ochre walls of Marrakech’s medina Sunday night, as thousands of delegates, observers and journalists arrived in the Moroccan city to move a global climate change framework forward into action.
But, if the forecast is to be believed, the rain and thunderstorms will soon clear, welcoming in a stretch of sunny weather. With Tuesday’s U.S. presidential elections coinciding with the second day of this global climate conference — and one candidate representing a direct threat to U.S. climate policy — the metaphor is apt to many conference attendees even as some fear it might be premature.