COP28: What's it all about?

Hello there, and welcome back to learn sustainability with Colin – we’ve got a good one for you this week and that’s because COP28 will be starting later this month! 

For anyone that’s new here, let's start from the beginning…

COP stands for Conference of the Parties and it's when all the world leaders come together to talk all things climate and sustainability. The 28 simply stands for the number of conferences there has been so far, and this is the 28^th annual summit.

Last year, COP27 was held in Sharm el-Sheikh, and this year, it's heading to Dubai! The main discussion point this year is climate change, this is because over the past year extreme weather events like flooding, storms and droughts have been experienced globally and many climate records have been broken - these are the only type of records we don't want to be breaking! 

The conference will run from the 30th November to the 12th December in the UAE, however, many people weren't too happy to hear about this years location for COP28. The United Arab Emirates, or the UAE is one of the biggest oil producers globally, and drilling for oil has many negative environmental impacts such as releasing harmful chemicals and polluting waterways. 

Not only is oil bad to extract, but it's also bad to use - oil is a fossil fuel and releases planet-warming greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide when burned for energy. Not a great place to promote sustainability right? 

Each year at COP, key themes are chosen beforehand. This year, the top discussion points are: 

• fast-tracking the move to clean energy sources, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions before 2030
• providing money for climate action from richer to poorer countries, and provide more help for developing nations 
• focusing on nature and people
• making COP28 the most inclusive ever

We'll be keeping you updated on the key outcomes of COP28 and what progress has been made since last years summit. What are your thoughts on COP28? Let us know in the comments below!