The United Nations Climate Change Conference also known as COP 28, came to a close on December 13th. The conference was held in Dubai which is a part of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). As the world’s largest international climate conference, COP28 had over 85,000 participants with 197 countries represented and the European Union (EU) represented as well. After intense negotiations, there was a declaration to transition away from using fossil fuels. All member countries are required to produce and consume fossil fuels in an orderly and equitable manner.
One of the main measures included in the final agreement is tripling of the world’s renewable capacity by 2030. This target was endorsed by 116 parties at COP28, excluding Russia, China, and India. In COP27, those present agreed on creating a loss and damage fund to support the most vulnerable countries coping with the impact of climate disasters, for example, the destruction of crops by floods. In COP28, the loss and damage fund received pledges of $792 million from governments.
On December 1st, 134 countries signed a declaration pledging their support and that they will tackle climate effects in the food industry. Those 134 countries represent approximately 5.7 billion people.
On December 2nd, 22 countries including the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Netherlands, France, and Japan signed a declaration for tripling nuclear power between 2020 and 2050 in an attempt to reduce the dependence on oil, coal, and gas. Other signatories calling for tripling of nuclear energy included European Union members like the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Sweden, Poland, Slovakia, Netherlands, Hungary, France, Moldova, Romania, and Finland.
Finally, 60 countries made commitments on air conditioning which is generating numerous greenhouse gases (7% of the global total emission). The countries signed a new commitment to reduce the emission of these gases by 2050. Some of the countries that committed to the cooling sector include the United States, Canada, and Kenya.
After several negotiations, Azerbaijan was announced as the host of the next Climate Change Conference(COP29) which is slated for November of 2024.
Image is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license and was created by IAEA Imagebank.
