UN climate conference should not be ‘business as usual’, say climate experts
We spoke to four experts including current and former COP delegates to ask what the world, and Canada, needs to see come out of the conference.
Climate experts are looking for action on finance and renewable energy goals at the United Nations climate change conference, including the 28th Conference of Parties (COP).
We spoke to four experts including current and former COP delegates to ask what the world, and Canada, needs to see come out of the conference, which will be held from Nov. 30 to Dec. 12 in Dubai.
Dr. William Cheung: The oceans must be part of the discussions
Dr. Cheung is a professor and the director of the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, a UBC COP 28 delegate and co-author of the IPCC 2023 report. Interview language(s): English, Cantonese
The oceans must be considered part of the discussions—they host a vast diversity of life, provide renewable energy through offshore windfarms, feed or employ a good portion of the world, serve as carbon sinks and offer a potential low-carbon pantry and economy through sustainable fishing and aquaculture.
Even if the world successfully limits global warming to 1.5 C, tropical areas, small islands, and developing states will continue to see a substantial decrease in catches and seafood availability, as well as sea level rise in the near term. We need to see the loss and damages fund used to support these actors.
Not achieving the warming limit doesn’t mean we should give up. Every degree of warming avoided helps. This requires further emissions cuts than those to which countries have already committed. Making meaningful progress in this conference is very important for addressing other global challenges including biodiversity conservation and food security.
Dr. Kathryn Harrison: Countries need to up their game
Dr. Harrison is a professor in the department of political science and a UBC COP 26 delegate. Interview language: English
The world isn’t on track to meet the Paris Agreement goal to limit warming to 1.5 to 2 C, and so, the most fundamental thing we need is greater ambition to reduce emissions, both in terms of national targets and domestic policies to meet them.
Wealthy countries that disproportionately caused climate change must provide greater financial support to low-income countries that disproportionately suffer its impacts. I’m also hoping to see acknowledgement of the need to phase out both consumption and production of fossil fuels.
Canada must demonstrate our word can be trusted by implementing policies needed to meet our targets, and acknowledging the need to wind down fossil fuel production. And Canada can lead in committing greater climate finance for developing countries
It’s easy to be cynical about UN climate conferences, but I’m stubbornly hopeful, because I have never been surrounded by so many people deeply committed to eliminating climate change.
Fabiola Melchior: Strengthening youth participation
Fabiola Melchior is a master’s student in Interdisciplinary Graduate Studies at UBC Okanagan, a COP 28 delegate and a climate activist. Interview languages: English, German
I hope to see the parties strengthen meaningful youth participation at key decision-making events, which is crucial not only because youth are at the forefront of climate justice organizing in their communities, but especially because we continually confront the roots of capitalist and colonial structures that have led to the climate crisis. This could include the institutionalization of the Youth Climate Champion within the COP Presidency.
Going into this conference, we need to amplify calls for the implementation of a robust conflict-of-interests policy within the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. This would require the parties to maintain separation from corporate entities and limit sponsorships by polluting entities that may impact the focus, progress and outcomes of COPs. Last year 636 representatives of oil and gas industries attended COP, outnumbering any one delegation of frontline communities. It is time to take action, and kick big polluters out.
Temitope Onifade: Tackle renewable energy technologies
Temitope Onifade is an affiliated research scholar in the Peter A. Allard School of Law and a UBC COP 26 delegate. Interview language(s): English, Yoruba, English-based pidgin
I’d like to see countries address the management of renewable energy technologies, the most widely accepted alternative to fossil fuels. These technologies require diverse minerals, metals and other materials. Efforts to find these, such as deep-sea mining, create social and environmental challenges. COP 28 should create a framework to address such implications, which can then be implemented with partners such as the International Renewable Energy Agency.
COP 28 should not be business as usual: governments, heavily lobbied by businesses, negotiating technology and market-based systems. We have done this for decades, but it has not worked. Rather, governments should be promoting the solutions that work while empowering the countries and communities that are disproportionately impacted by not only climate change but also the solutions. They should listen to what such countries and communities think about the best ways to deal with those impacts, not what powerful industries tell them.
For more delegates, and other UBC experts, available to comment on the conference, the 2023 UNEP Emissions Gap report, and other climate-related topics, click here.
