Why is the COP 28 Summit in Dubai Important?

What is the COP 28?

The COP 28 is the 28th meeting of the Conference of the Parties. The ‘parties’ include the countries that signed up in the original UN climate agreement in 1992.

This year the summit is being held in Dubai from 30 November to 12 December. The UNFCCC secretariat has announced that Sultan Ahmed al Jaber has been appointed to serve as the President designate of the summit. Sultan Ahmed al Jabbar has been considered a controversial choice with him being the chief executive of a state owned oil company.

The whole point of the meeting is to the discuss ways to reduce and prepare for climate change, more specifically, to continue to limit the rise of global temperatures to 1.5C as was agreed upon in the Paris Agreement of 2015.

UAE’s Climate Ambassadors initiative for COP 28

The National Media Office (NMO) started the “Climate Ambassadors” initiative for social media influencers and content creators. The goal is to cover the news of COP28, which starts on November 30, 2023.

The NMO aims to use the program to gather efforts and resources to increase public understanding of the significance of climate action and to showcase the UAE’s endeavors in this area.

The program will not only cover the conference and events happening in Dubai but also involve its members, such as influencers and content creators, in spreading awareness about environmental sustainability.

They will encourage community involvement and promote national strategies through creative content that reaches different parts of society. This is not the first time celebrities and influencers have been made advocates for the COP. In 2021, BLACKPINK were advocates for COP 26 for which they recently received MBA honours at the Buckingham Palace.

The COP28 Conference of the Parties is scheduled from November 30 to December 12 in Expo City Dubai. It’s expected to have more than 70,000 participants, including heads of state, government officials, leaders from global industries, private sector representatives, youth, civil society members, academics, and climate experts.

Why is COP 28 important?

The UN’s climate group, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), says it is really important to stick to the 1.5C target to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.

Right now, the Earth’s temperature has gone up by about 1.1C or 1.2C from the time before we started burning lots of fossil fuels. But recent guesses suggest we might end up with a temperature rise of 2.4C to 2.7C by the year 2100, even though the exact numbers are a bit uncertain. Because of this, the time we have to stay within the 1.5C limit is running out fast, according to the UN.

At COP28, the focus will be on more than just reaching the current Paris Agreement targets. They also want to speed up the shift to clean energy to greatly reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.

Additionally, they aim to provide funding for climate efforts in poorer countries and negotiate a new agreement for developing nations. The conference will also emphasize the importance of nature and people. Overall, the goal is to make COP28 the most inclusive one yet.

Who will be attending?

Over 200 governments have received invitations.

While US President Joe Biden and China’s Xi Jinping are not attending, their respective countries will have representation.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is slated to participate, and Buckingham Palace has affirmed that King Charles will be in attendance. He is scheduled to give an opening speech to delegates on December 1.

PM Modi is also set to attend the COP 28 in Dubai as was confirmed by the Ministry of External Affairs on November 26. In the 2021 Summit at Glasgow, the PM had announced the Panchamrit or the five targets of India’s climate action plan.