COPs and the last day of no 28

1 What are the COPs?
2 COP28 most recent updates
3 Related articles on Designing Buildings
4 External links

[edit] What are the COPs?

[edit] Conference of the Parties

The Conference of the Parties (COP) includes representatives of all the countries that are signatories (or 'Parties') to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). There are 198 parties that have now ratified that convention. There are COP events that can be found on other topics, though their relationship to the UN is often unclear and should be checked, but the term COP is generally affiliated with the UN.

The UNFCCC and the reference to UN COPs stemmed from the Rio Summit which was the first United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), also known as the 'Earth Summit' held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1992.

Issues discussed at the Earth Summit were:

Patterns of development that create pressure on the environment.
Protection of the atmosphere (energy use, climate change, ozone depletion, transboundary air pollution).
Protection of land resources (deforestation, desertification, land degradation, and drought).

[edit] The three types of COP

The issues discussed at the Rio Summit and creation of the United Nations Framework Convention (UNFC) in turn created three intrinsically linked strands or conventions which have and continue to hold COPs:

The UN convention on climate change (UNFCC), most commonly referred to as COP or UNCCCOP.
The UN Convention on biological diversity (UNCBD or CBD), also sometimes referred to as COP, BIOCOP or EXCOP.
The UN Convention to combat desertification (UNCCD) also sometimes referred to as COP.

A Joint Liaison Group was set up to boost cooperation between the three conventions, with the ultimate aim of developing synergies in their activities on issues of mutual concern, namely preventing dangerous human interference with climate systems.

[edit] Why are the COPs related to buildings?

The COPs are at the higher international level; however, they should necessarily feed into the individual parties, the governmental policy they represent, and in turn into national, regional, and local policy, as well as feeding into the community and industry.

The relationship with the design, construction, use, and decommissioning of buildings connects to all three themes directly and indirectly, from the materials used to extract, manufacture, supply, and construct the built environment to where buildings are built, where they sit within development policies, how much and what energy they run on, and how they shape the behaviour of people using them.

While figures in all areas vary over time and source, the message for the built environment is relatively similar:

The World Economic Forum in 2020, as well as others, estimated that the built environment sector was responsible for nearly 30% of biodiversity loss globally.
The World Green Building Council and others suggest buildings are responsible for 40–50% of global energy-related carbon emissions, with around one-quarter relating to materials and the rest to energy-related emissions.
Desertification is a direct result of climatic variations caused by carbon emissions and human activities that reduce natural infrastructure. This can be as a result of supporting the built environment through direct development, agricultural activities, or material harvesting for fuel, construction, or food.

[edit] When were the first COP meetings held?

The first Conference of the Parties under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (referred to as CCCOP and COP) was held in Berlin in 1994.

The first Conference of the Parties Convention on Biological Diversity (referred to as CBD, BIOCOP, EXCOP and COP) was also held in 1994 in Nassau, the Bahamas.

The first Conference of the parties of the UNCCD was held in Rome in 1997.

[edit] When were the most recent COP meetings held?

The most recent Conference of the Parties under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (referred to as CCCOP and COP) is COP28 held in Dubai of the UAE, ending 12 December 2023.

The most recent Conference of the Parties Convention on Biological Diversity (referred to as CBD, BIOCOP, EXCOP and COP) COP 15 was resumed as the second part of the fifteenth meeting and was held in Nairobi, Kenya, on October 19/20, 2023.

The most recent session of the Conference of Parties Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) was COP 15 held in May 2022.

[edit] COP28 most recent updates

[edit] COP28, a wording crisis within a crisis, update December 11

Paragraph 39 is said to indicate the “need for deep, rapid and sustained reductions in greenhouse gases”, with a call for parties to take actions which, could, include a range of measures such as phasing down unabated coal and accelerating technologies such as carbon capture and storage, but definitive wording describing the phasing out of fossil fuels is omitted. Currently, Australia, US, UK, Canada and Japan have said they will not sign and have called for stronger agreement to deal with a fossil fuel phase out to address the climate crisis.

Sultan Al Jaber acting as facilitator insisted that progress had been made “The Cop28 presidency has been clear from the beginning about our ambitions. This text reflects those ambitions and is a huge step forward. Now it is in the hands of the parties, who we trust to do what is best for humanity and the planet”

The relevant section of the text said parties recognise "the need for deep, rapid and sustained reductions in GHG (greenhouse gases) emissions and calls upon Parties to take actions that could include, inter alia:

"Tripling renewable energy capacity globally and doubling the global average annual rate of energy efficiency improvements by 2030;
Rapidly phasing down unabated coal and limitations on permitting new and unabated coal power generation;
Accelerating efforts globally towards net zero emissions energy systems, utilising zero and low carbon fuels well before or by around mid-century;
Accelerating zero and low emissions technologies, including, inter alia, renewables, nuclear, abatement and removal technologies, including such as carbon capture and utilisation and storage, and low carbon hydrogen production, so as to enhance efforts towards substitution of unabated fossil fuels in energy systems.
Reducing both consumption and production of fossil fuels, in a just, orderly and equitable manner so as to achieve net zero by, before, or around 2050 in keeping with the science;
Accelerating and substantially reducing non-CO2 emissions, including, in particular, methane emissions globally by 2030;
Accelerating emissions reductions from road transport through a range of pathways, including development of infrastructure and rapid deployment of zero and low emission vehicles;
Phasing out of inefficient fossil fuel subsidies that encourage wasteful consumption and do not address energy poverty or just transitions, as soon as possible."

The chair of the Alliance of Small Island States, Cedric Schuster of Samoa, said: “We will not sign our death certificate. We cannot sign on to text that does not have strong commitments on phasing out fossil fuels.”

This section is based on reporting by Ali Withers, Kate Abnett and William James; editing by Richard Valdmanis, Elizabeth Piper and Adam Morton.

[edit] COP28 Climate Action Commitment Counter December 9

COP28 has mobilised over $83 billion. The first ever declarations on food systems transformation and health, plus declarations on renewable energy and efficiency, as well as initiatives to decarbonise heavy emitting industries. 11 pledges and declarations have been launched and received support.

Operationalisation and capitalisation funding for Loss and Damage with $726 million pledged:

$3.5 billion in new money announced to replenish the Green Climate Fund (GCF)
$133.6 million announced toward the Adaptation Fund
$129.3 million announced toward the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDC)
$31 million to the Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF)

UAE launched a $30 billion catalytic fund, ALTÉRRA, to drive positive climate action. The fund seeks to mobilise an additional $250 billion globally.

The UAE committed $200 million to help vulnerable countries through Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) and $150 million to fund water security solutions.

The World Bank announced an increase of $9 billion annually for 2024 and 2025 to finance climate-related projects. Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) announced a cumulative increase of over $22.6 billion toward climate action.

The full breakdown of pledges and declarations so far is as follows:

The Global Renewables and Energy Efficiency Pledge has been endorsed by 130 countries.
The COP28 UAE Declaration on Agriculture, Food, & Climate has received endorsements from 147 countries.
The COP28 UAE Declaration on Climate and Health has been endorsed by 135 countries.
The COP28 UAE Declaration on Climate Relief, Recovery & Peace has been endorsed by 76 countries and 40 organisations.
The COP28 UAE Declaration on Climate Finance has been endorsed by 13 countries.
The COP28 UAE Declaration on Hydrogen and Derivates has been endorsed by 37 countries.
The COP28 UAE Declaration on Gender-Responsive Just Transitions has been endorsed by 76 countries.
The Coalition for High Ambition Multilevel Partnerships (CHAMP) Pledge has been endorsed by 65 countries.
The Global Cooling Pledge has been endorsed by 66 countries.
The Oil and Gas Decarbonisation Charter has been endorsed by 52 companies, representing 40 percent of global oil production.
The Industrial Transition Accelerator has been endorsed by 35 companies and six industry associations, including World Steel Association, International Aluminium Institute, Global Renewable Alliance, Global Cement and ConcreteAssociation, Oil and Gas Climate Initiative, International Air Transport Association.

This section is based on the "Climate Action Commitment Counter COP28 - Media Fact Sheet. Facts on COP28 to date" dated December 9, 2023.

[edit] COP28 and the path ahead

COP28 professes to be a ‘milestone moment’, during which the world will take stock and analyse the progress that has been made on goals set out in the 2015 Paris Agreement. However, in the wake of a year of extreme and record-breaking weather, there has been widespread frustration about the lack of global climate progress to date. Has the time come for individual businesses to take more control and play a greater role in steering the world towards a greener future?

COP28, the annual summit of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, commenced on November 30, 2023 for just under two weeks, located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. 2023 is a particularly momentous year as it concludes the first global stocktake under the Paris Agreement, which is essentially a progress review to examine how the various countries’ efforts to reduce emissions are proceeding and to suggest where further changes can be made.

Ahead of the summit the UNEP released the Emissions Gap Report 2023: Broken Record – Temperatures hit new highs, yet world fails to cut emissions (again). This report assesses the gap between current greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and the long-term goals set out in the Paris Agreement.

The exasperated tone of the report’s title reflects its fairly damning contents. GHG emissions reached a new record high in 2022, with CO2 emissions from industry and the combustion of fossil fuels accounting for two thirds of the total. What’s more, the G20 nations – those best placed to be making inroads into their output – still account for 76% of global emissions, with China, India, Indonesia and the USA’s emissions all increasing when compared to the previous year.

Emissions of methane, nitrous oxide and fluorinated gases are also rapidly increasing, this is despite a growing number of net zero pledges from governments around the world.