Good COP/Bad COP
- Yashila Govender
Yashila Govender, a Masters student in Science, reflects on her first time at COP28 in Dubai.
The 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was held in Dubai, UAE, from 30 November to 12 December 2023. It was a critical moment for the global community to take decisive action on the climate crisis and discuss outcomes from the first global stock take. Resulting from the Paris Agreement, the global stock take is designed to account for the global response to climate change. The purpose of the global stock take is to evaluate the world’s progress in cutting down global greenhouse gas emissions and to evaluating countries response to climate impacts. As an intern from the Southern Centre of Inequality Studies (SCIS) and a Master of Science candidate at the Global Change Institute (GCI) at Wits University, I would like to share some of my reflections and insights on COP28 and give you an idea of what it is like to attend such an event.
If I had to sum up COP28 in one word, it would be ‘overwhelming’. The first day was spent navigating the bustling metro station – Thankfully, free public transport was provided to all COP28 participants but the venue itself is far from the central city. When you finally touch down at Expo City, you are greeted with a swarming Expo City packed with thousands of people rushing to various negotiations, meetings, panel discussions and actions. Initially, navigating COP was difficult to navigate, There are two zones of activities at every COP, the blue zone and the green zone. Country pavilions, negotiation rooms and special thematic arenas were found in the blue zone which requires a badge to enter, and the green zone was filled with different hubs, stalls for civil society and museums free for the public to enjoy. With help from the navigation boards around Expo City and my trusty map, I was able to make my way to participate in a panel discussion held by Wits University titled: “The role of universities at COP28 and the implications for evidence-based policymaking and climate justice”.
The Expo City boasts stunning architecture, with many buildings and venues you could spend hours admiring, but do not be mistaken not so stunning negotiations and discussions were being held in those venues. Each day presented an opportunity to network with various stakeholders around the world. With so many events held each day and so much to do, it can be a gruesome activity deciding what events to attend. Thankfully, a COP28 app was created, here I was able to track different events and decide what events to attend.
While COP28 was acknowledged to be the “most inclusive COP” with the largest number of participants ever seen, others described it as the “business COP”, which I resonated with more. A staggering number of participants present at COP28 were oil and gas lobbyists, approximated to be more than 2 400. However, there were many conversations that were hopeful, there were vital discussions with indigenous peoples around the world on their relationship with their broader environment, their positionality within their society and their response to climate change. When we hold conversations around the environment, hearing about indigenous peoples and their relationship with the environment made me rethink my relationship with the environment. There are so many ecosystem services we take for granted, the food we eat, the water we drink, the air we breathe and the land we live on. It is very easy to feel insignificant in an overwhelmingly large place like COP but hearing inspiring stories from people all around the world is a reminder that we all have a role to play in addressing the climate crisis.
There are challenges and gaps that remain in addressing the urgency and scale of the climate crisis. The overall view was that COP fell short of delivering on some key issues, such as providing comprehensive finance for developing countries, especially for adaptation and loss and damage; closing the emissions gap between current pledges and pathways consistent with limiting global warming to 1.5°C; ensuring a just transition for workers and communities affected by the shift to a low-carbon economy; and enhancing participation and representation of marginalized and vulnerable groups in decision-making processes. An issue mentioned in previous COPs and one still very much present is that conversations delineate from the true causes of climate change, furthermore, those affected most by the climate crisis are spoken about as if they are an abstract entity.
In conclusion, I believe that COP28 was a significant step forward in advancing global climate action, although not sufficient. The world is still on track to exceed 1.5°C of warming by the end of this century, with devastating consequences for people and planet. Therefore, we need to maintain the momentum and pressure generated by COP28, and to increase our ambition and action in all sectors. We need to act together for our future.
