What is COP 28 and why you should know about it before it start…

Since I am the one writing about it, I think you should first know who I am, so I am gonna give you a brief about me. My name is not important, but my designation is. I am a PhD student, aka a researcher in Khalifa University in the UAE. My area of research is Circular Economy in Construction, but I am not writing about that hot topic now. I will discuss about it in detail later sometime soon.

Today, I wanna discuss COP 28 or conference of parties. Everybody in the UAE must have heard of it by know through media and posters on the side of the road. Everywhere its COP 28 in big flashy blingy way. But what is it and since it number 28, what happened in COP 1 till 27 and why COP 28 is very relevant when we talk about climate change.

“Even if you don’t pay any heed to it, it will be business as usual for you, but I cant say for sure it will be same for your kids and the generation that comes next“

I might go from technical, political details to my personal opinion as I believe I am entitled for an opinion now as an academician and it is the voice of the academicians and the youth the world needs to hear right now.

So what is COP and world knows only about the Paris Agreement and 2 degree Celsius that happened in COP 21 in 2015 and what we as an individual can contribute to this global phenomena as it all comes down to an individual.

Before talking about COP and UN and everything we need to talk about Industrial revolution. The world saw scientific and technological development in the first Industrial revolution , which happened after the agricultural revolution which started in 18th century. Well this development took place in European countries. First Industrial revolution was the spring time for the mankind. But the early phase exclusively limited to Britain. Path breaking innovations was made in the use of coal and the invention of steam engine radically revolutionized all the sectors.

“With the first Industrial revolution the World saw a rise CO2 emissions in the atmosphere and its effect on the climate. “

Before the Developing countries could get the taste of first Industrial revolution , the developed countries was already on the way towards the second industrial revolution with development in steel demands, telegraph , telephone. which soon paved way for third industrial revolution with the rise of electronics, telecommunication and computers. Programmable Logic Controllers, robots and automation took the World by storm. And with Industry 4.0 the world became new level playing ground with Internet of things, Artificial Intelligence, Automation , robots, drones, Augmented reality, Virtual reality which transformed the industrial sector. It increased productivity and boosted economic growth.

SO what happened in parallel to the climate. Since this economic boom is coupled with use of fossil fuels and increased carbon emissions, there came a huge disparity between the developed countries now referred to as Global North and developing countries aka Global South, which has less GHG due to less economic growth .

“Carbon emissions and associated climate change effects doesn’t care about the socially constructed boundaries of countries, and sadly its the Global south who is being affected the most because the earth is getting warmer everyday”

To combat these climate change more seriously in 1992, countries joined an international treaty-UNFCCC-United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. COP or Conference of Parties is a supreme body of UNFCCC. They make decisions that guide the implementation of the convention and they hold meeting every year bringing representatives from the participating countries.

COP1, which was inagurated in Berlin, Germany in 1995 was the inaugural meeting of COP to UNFCCC. It set a platform to start negotiations on Green House Gas emission reduction, and how to support the developing countries financially in combating the effect of climate change.

COP2 held in Switzerland also saw similar discussions and it paved way for Kyoto Protocal in COP 3 in Japan.

“Kyoto Protocol is very important to understand as it legally binds the developed countries to emission targets with initial commitment period from 2008 to 2012. It introduced market based systems to facilitate emission reductions like emission trading, clean development mechanism. Emission trading allowed countries to buy and sell emission allowance and started initiatives for developed countries to invest in emission reduction projects in the developing countries as way to meet their own reduction target.”

COP 4 in Argentina and COP5 in Germany mostly discussed how to put Kyoto Protocol to force with focus on operationalization on financial mechanism.

COP 6 in Netherlands discussed carbon sink by forests and how to credit countries for actions that led to increased absorption and how to account for emissions from deforestation. COP7 in Morocco and COP 8 in India further discussed Kyoto protocol enforcement with more focus on technology transfer from developed countries to developing countries and capacity building in technical, financial and institutional capacity for developing countries. It also saw the establishment of adaptation fund governed by the Adaptation Fund Board which provides funds to enhance resilience and reduce vulnerability to the countries impacted by the climate change.

COP 9 in Italy , COP10 in Argentina, COP 11 in Canada, 12 in Kenya, 13 in Indonesia, 14 in Poland paved further discussions on the adaptation fund and comprehensive climate agreement.

COP15 in Denmark adopted Copenhagen accord , a political agreement with voluntary emission target reduction commitments and COP 16 in Mexico marked the establishment of Green Climate Fund. It aims to support project to reduce the GHG emissions and build resilience in Global South. It saw the increase in investment in renewable energies in developing countries.

COP 17 in South Africa, COP 18 in Qatar, 19 in Poland, 20 in Peru showed progress in discussion on Green Fund and a unified agreement to negotiate a universal climate agreement in 2015 and intention on nationally determined contribution INDC which basically shows each countries efforts towards combating climate change.

“COP 21 in Paris, commonly known as Paris Agreement was a game changer. It the landmark accord with the goal of limiting global warming to 2 Degree Celsius with further efforts to limit it to 1.5Degree Celsius. It intended to accelerate and intensify the actions and investments needed for sustainable low carbon future.”

COP 22 in Morocco, COP 23 in Germany, COP24 in Poland, 25 in Spain further continued discussions on Paris Agreement.

COP 26 in Glasgow saw the first stocktake. It assess the collective progress under the Paris Agreement. and Identify any remaining gap and opportunities for increased action and it matters as it assess as how each country is performing against its own NDC to cut emissions. stocktake is a two year process that happens every five years, so the stocktake that started in COP 26 will conclude in COP28 that will happen in our own UAE.

Well COP 27 that I missed in between had more climate change discussions

So here we are at the COP 28 which will start this November 30 and end on Dec 12 2023. The United Arab Emirates which is setting a global standard on sustainability efforts is hosting COP28 . The year 2023, the year of sustainability saw the countries unified efforts in all sectors to enhance sustainability.

“My article on UAE’s efforts towards sustainability highlights the countries initiatives in sustainable infrastructure development, green growth, its net zero visions and targets , clean energy policies https://doi.org/10.3390/su151914652.”

The main agenda of COP 28 is the global stocktake but its more relevant as it has crucial to the world the direction it will take for course correction especially since the world is standing on top of all required technologies and networks to combat the climate change.

So what can we as an Individual contribute to it . How can we shift our focus from our business and jump right into it. after all if global warming rise to 3 Degree Celsius we are all doomed.

Those who is good in speaking speak up, those who are good in writing , write, and those who think they dont have a platform and feels less privileged you have the major role to raise a resilient and powerful young generation who are capable of asking a lot of questions . To question the age old practices, to bring creativity and innovation because the current generation , the generation of the 21st century is more connected than ever. They are the torch to current darkness.

“So raise them strong and give them tools as they are the ones who has more to lose than everyone. Give them the tools and let their voice guide us”

The young of today are emerging as the driving force behind a worldwide movement for sustainability in the face of a climate that is changing at a rapid pace. They are digital natives, and as such, they are able to use the power of social media to spread the message that climate action is urgently needed. Young activists are converting online spaces into hubs of environmental consciousness by means of captivating campaigns and intense conversations. As a result, they are reaching audiences from all over the world. Young people have the potential to make major contributions and have a big effect on the results of decision-making when they are given the chance to assist in framing the challenges, developing alternatives, and identifying solutions. Although it seems that youth participation at this level is on the rise, it is still considered to be quite uncommon. Even less commonly, young people are given the authority to make final decisions, and those young people are also given the responsibility of committing to putting their decisions into action. In each of these situations, young people participate in decision-making processes that are collaborative and empower them.

To talk more about the how to empower youth to take active role in Climate change , a group of experts and me are discussing innovative solutions and strategies to create a sustainable future in Expo City venue of COP28 on December 1 at 3.30 PM .

“Lets Inspire the next generation to take meaningful action . Together we can make a difference “

Regards

Shadeedha Mohamed Saradara

PhD student

Khalifa University