climate talks, this refers to how far countries will go to cut planet-warming pollution. Here are a few that consistently cloud the COP lexicon:Īmbition: Maybe the word spoken most often in U.N. climate conferences are full of jargon, with words like “ambition” and “landing zones” that can have big implications. But it won’t address the bulk of the industry’s climate pollution - the greenhouse gas emissions produced by burning oil and gas. (The Biden administration is expected to issue a final rule for its own methane crackdown during the summit.) This could produce real-world impact. What to watch for: Sultan al-Jaber, the UAE oil chief in charge of the talks, is leading an initiative to get oil and gas companies to agree to “nearly” eliminate their emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. lagged behind at $17.5 million, while the UAE offered $100 million, a first for a high-emitting emerging economy.) And just a few hours after this year’s summit, COP28, began Thursday, delegates approved the structure of that fund and countries began pledging hundreds of millions of dollars in donations. Last year’s summit landed an historic agreement to create a fund to help climate-ravaged countries. Instead, a lot of the conversation is turning to helping countries build resilience to future disasters and cope with current ones. But these calls didn’t yield any progress at last year’s Egypt-hosted summit, and the UAE and other major polluters don’t appear on board with stronger phase-out language this time.įailing to shift away from fossil fuels has already pushed the world past the point of preventing much of the damage from rising seas, worsening storms and spreading floods, droughts and disease. How that language is crafted - whether a phase “out,” phase “down” or something more creative - will be one measure of headway. are backing a push to triple triple renewable energy capacity and double energy efficiency.Ī coalition led by the European Union and Pacific island nations wants to go further by getting global agreement to eventually end production and use of coal, oil and gas. This year, dozens of countries - including fossil-fuel-dependent nations like China and the U.S. That’s roughly double the most ambitious goal that nations agreed to in the 2015 Paris Agreement. That means cutting greenhouse gas pollution.Ĭountries have made some progress since the annual talks began in 1995, but global temperatures are still on track for nearly 3 degrees Celsius of warming since pre-industrial times. The main courseĪt its core, the conference is about preventing the worst consequences of climate change. What will all these people be wrangling about - and does it have any hope of saving the planet? Let this be your guide. The summit is also drawing royalty of various origins, chief climate officers, financiers and climate activists. Climate negotiators and diplomats won’t be the only ones crowding Expo City.
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