The latest on COP28
With COP28 in full swing we give you the low down on everything you need to know.
What is COP28?
COP28 sounds a strange title to give to such an important globally important meeting.
The ‘COP’ is a global summit on the climate change held by the parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which is the international treaty with an objective to prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system, primarily by stabilising greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
The summit is known as the Conference of the Parties, or COP for short.
The first COP was held in Berlin in 1995 and has been held every year since, except when it was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This this year’s meeting will be the 28th annual summit, which is why it is called “COP28”.
Where is COP28?
The summit is being held in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), from 30 November until 12 December 2023.
Why is COP28 in Dubai, and why is it controversial?
The UAE’s COP presidency has always faced criticism because the country is in the top 10 oil producing nations in the world.
It was revealed in August the UAE had missed its own clean power target.
Burning fossil fuels like oil and gas is the main cause of climate change.
The UAE further raised eyebrows when it appointed Sultan Al Jaber, chief executive of the national oil company, ADNOC, to run the talks.
Campaigners say this is too great a conflict of interest however supporters argue his position uniquely places him to influence the fossil fuel industry, whose transformation is key to tackling climate change.
Who will be attending COP28?
More than 200 government officials have been invited to COP28.
US President Joe Biden and China’s Xi Jinping are not expected to attend, but both countries will be represented.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will be attending and Buckingham Palace has confirmed that King Charles will also attend. King Charles will give the opening address of this summit on 1 December – his first major climate speech since becoming monarch.
Environmental charities, community groups, think tanks, businesses and faith groups have also been invited.
Between them they’ll seek to influence the negotiations and the media, strike deals or bolster their climate credentials.
What is COP28 programme?
The COP28 programme will cover different themes, and each day will have a theme by its own as follows:
- Finance Day
- Water Day
- Decarbonization Day
- Science Day
- Solutions Day
- Gender Day
- Energy Day
- Biodiversity Day
- Youth Day & Civil Society Day
Why is COP28 important?
It follows a year of extreme weather events in which many climate records have been broken.
The United Nations on Monday warned the planet is on course for 2.5-2.9C of warming, far more than the goal in the Paris Agreement of ideally limiting warming to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.
At COP, countries are essentially negotiating over the fate of the planet.
How can your business play a part?
Historically, businesses have bought technology without thinking too hard about its carbon footprint.
Recycling, reusing, and repurposing assets is helping to reduce CO2 emissions and send less e-waste to landfill.
As well as reducing e-waste, asset upcycling removes the need to remanufacture and remine assets helping to reduce water consumption and the tonnes of earth mined as part of the process of producing IT assets.
Contact our team today to see how we can help your business with your net zero targets:
Call: 01524 580900
