As our Team, composed of our Head of Architecture, Dr. Vesna Kosoric and Matthew Taylor, Business Developer, arrive at the Dubai Expo site and set up our kiosk for the coming week of exciting discussions about sustainable architecture at our booth, we use this opportunity to provide you with some thematic insights about this year’s COP28.
What makes this year’s COP28 so important?
In short: Things are not looking good. Ongoing predictions and measurements indicate 2023 is likely to be the hottest year to be ever recorded.
According to the Global Stocktake report, published in September, current predictions show a global warming of 2.5° C to 2.9°C until the end of the century. This is well above the 2.0° C or ideal 1.5°C goals defined in the Paris agreement. The Global Stocktake is the official document on to monitor the climate situation and the progress towards the Paris goals over 5 years for the COP meetings. The report finds clear words for the current situation of the world: “not on track”.
Hence strong action is required, and the world is watching closely what is happening in Dubai and the UN calls for COP28 to be a “turning point”.
Who is expected to attend?
Among the 60 000 to 70 000 people to attend the climate talks in the UAE, there are a range of high-profile individuals. Among them climate supporters like King Charles III of Britain. Pope Francis who was previously planned to be the first pope to attend a COP had to cancel his participation last minute. Diplomatic delegations from all 197 member states and a large number of the heads of states are expected to attend.
Switzerland’s delegation is expected to bring multiple Swiss Federal Councilors and Swiss president Alain Berset to COP28.
What will be discussed at COP28?
With what is at stake laid out and the goal of keeping the 1.5 °C global warming target within reach, there will be several important topics which will be discussed during the conference, including:
Boosting Climate financing and the adoption of a “Loss and Damage Fund” to provide financial assistance to nations most vulnerable and impacted by the effects of climate change will be among the hottest topics at COP28.
Another highly debated topic will be the phase-out / phasing down of fossil fuels and fossil fuel subsidies, especially as at this years COP, the world’s oil and gas companies will also participate in the discussions.
With the support of over 60 countries including the US and China already secured, a pledge to triple global renewables and double the world’s energy efficiency starts with strong support. This measure would be a critical step to meet the emission reduction targets by 2030.
In the next part of our #PathwaytoCOP28 we will explore how Solskin can transform the built environment, making it more climate resilient, improving its energy efficiency and powering it with renewable energy, hence contributing to the global climate commitments which we hope will be agreed on in the coming days.
Sources:
Author: Alexander Zuest, Head of Business @ Zurich Soft Robotics (C) 2023