COP 28 Conference of Parties for discussion of climate change and how the world plans to deal with it was held for 2 weeks in December 2023
Here’s the main web site
We cannot match the extensive coverage of the large news outlets but we can offer our thoughts on what occurred
UAE largely based in Dubai was the lead for this event, Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber was the President for COP28
who obviously represents an Oil and Gas ie fossil fuel view of the world and those like the UN the coordinator of the event who say they want to keep the Earth below the 1.5 degree C target they set in Paris many years ago.
Makes one wonder why UAE was chosen at all to lead this event? With so many thousand participants we guess adequate housing is a requirement of the event. Maybe the cost to put it on as well.
Oil and gas wants to keep things the way they are in the world or perhaps move away from fossil fuels very slowly and deliberately. If you live on the Earth and went through the summer in the Northern Hemisphere this year you know somethings up with the climate and maybe we should try to change things a bit and maybe coal, and oil and gas are partially not totally contributory to these changes in temperature. Oil and gas folks are not bad people Dr Al Jaber seems like a good hard working gent It’s just that his business model may be damaging Earthlings whether human or non human.
Some highlights of this COP:
There was agreement to try and reach net zero by 2050 which will involve a steady lessening of oil and gas but the term “Phase Out” was prohibited
There was to be an attempt to triple sustainable energy by 2030
Coal production was somewhat separated from oil and gas as far as speed to lessen it’s use But in that India and China are still so linked to coal for their power sources it’s hard to.
There was increased mention of nuclear power and a feeling that despite Fukushima and other nulcear scares that the risk of problems from nuke power that contributes very little carbon as a result of it’s use is less than the rise in temps from non
There is NEVER a mention of population moderation as a way to temper climate change.
Just seems to be a part of the tonic
A statement from a great article on Population control and reducing emissions from Population Connection.org
“There has been a reluctance to integrate discussions of population into climate education and advocacy. Yet climate change is tightly linked to population growth.” Read the whole article here
There is also NEVER a mention of how home power rather than distributed power would be the best way to increase renewble energy.
Home power is harder for multi family situations which are certainly a large part of the big cities housing but there are still a bunch of single family residences especially in areas surrounding big cities in first world countries who are the biggest polluters
There was small mention of a Circular Economy but no attempt to begin it’s integration into the current economy by the promised dates of 2030 and 2050
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation is a stand by in pushing for a Circular Economy
Here are some nice videos from their website on these discussions at COP28
Was there any mention of the USA Inflation Reduction Act and it’s affect on Climate Change and legislation that other countries should consider for themselves?
This is a massive endowment to clean energy and sustainable living and a shot in the arm of non oil and gas American manufacturing affecting Georgia, Michigan, Arizona, California, and Texas
The next COP is next year in Azerbaijan
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