The annual, international climate conference COP28 in Dubai has begun. Here’s how to understand the negotiations and squabbles about money and the “phaseout” versus “phasedown” of fossil fuels.
Two weeks, at least 100,000 attendees and a major oil producer serving as host country — with the Earth’s future high on the agenda.
Countries have made some progress since the annual talks began in 1995, but global temperatures are still on track for nearly 3 degrees Celsius of warming since pre-industrial times. That’s roughly double the most ambitious goal that nations agreed to in the 2015 Paris Agreement.
These two weeks of negotiations have already been beset by to a number of challenges, such as greenwashing around false carbon solutions. Pope Francis’ much anticipated trip to the conference had to be canceled due to health concerns, highlighting the COP’s chronically unresolved accessibility issues.
However, the first few days of the conference have also seen new and exciting movement toward solutions. The long-anticipated Loss and Damage fund was finally operationalized, meaning that it is now easier than ever for the most impacted countries to access the funding they desperately need to protect their people from the worst impacts of the climate emergency. (The fund still needs billions more in funding, but it is a start.) The conference has seen a strong movement to pass an international ecocide law and a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty. Multiple world leaders– like former President of Ireland Mary Robinson and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres— have pushed back on the fossil fuel industry’s co-optation of the conference proceedings.
COP28 has also, for the first time, created a space dedicated to dialogues with members of the faith community. The Faith Pavilion‘s events are livestreamed and available on their YouTube channel for everyone to watch– including the Faiths for Biodiversity (a working group we have been in since its founding three years ago) webinar on December 9. Dubai and the UAE have the opportunity to send a powerful message to the rest of the world that eliminating fossil fuel emissions is both inevitable and essential. While the road ahead may seem daunting, especially given the region’s historical reliance on oil and gas, the journey is worthwhile. Change starts with us, and COP28 provides a dynamic platform for us to come together and create a sustainable future for all. We must act swiftly, without compromise, and with unwavering commitment.