World leaders combat climate change at 28th annual climate summit
Wikipedia Commons/ The Samohi
COP28 President Sultan al-Jabe (center) and others hold the anual climate summit, hoping to improve climate change policies.
From Nov. 30 to Dec. 12, over a hundred world leaders attended the climate summit in Dubai. Called COP28, the climate summit is a gathering for world leaders to negotiate climate change mitigations.
The Climate Summit started in 1995, almost 30 years ago. Since then, they’ve been held every year other than 2020 due to COVID restrictions. COP stands for “Conference of the Parties”, while the 28 stands for the 28th meeting.
In the 2023 climate summit, world leaders discussed their progress in limiting climate change. Those attending were hoping to limit global warming to only 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit, or 1.5 degrees Celsius, which is the threshold to what humans can adapt to. However, the planet has already risen 1.2 degrees Celsius. The United States and other countries have begun to cut down on carbon emissions, but the emissions globally have continued to rise. Scientists have said that the entire world must cut carbon emissions by 43 percent to avoid immense catastrophic consequences. By attending the climate summit, nations are going to debate numerous things such as how to phase out fossil fuels and mostly cut down on carbon emissions in the global power system by the 2030s. As well, they wish to triple the already installed renewable energy, double the rate of improvement in energy efficiency by 2030 and more. They also wish to work together to continue the promotion of the implementation of an enhanced transparency framework, foster an inclusive discussion on the future of UNFCCC, advance the implementation of the Glasgow work program, address the gender dimension, and discuss the implementation of climate action in the agricultural and food security.
Wikipedia Commons / The Samohi
Climate change has severely worsened over time, as the global temperature has been continuously rising over the past century, nearing the 1.5 Celcius limit.
President Biden did not attend the summit, though he pushed to limit climate change. Senior White House aides say it is due to the Israel and Hamas war, which has consumed him in recent weeks. Although, for the past two years Biden has attended the summit. Last year, he flew to Egypt where he promoted the passage of the USA’s significant climate change legislation. The law is called the Inflation Reduction Act, investing $350 million into substantially lowering carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions that are associated with all stages of production. This law has sent money to communities to help protect and make them more resilient against disasters from climate change, produced over 170 thousand jobs with an estimated 1.5 million jobs along the way, collected over $110 billion in clean energy investments, and protects communities from climate change. The Inflation Reduction Act and another law, named the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, are estimated to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 41 percent by 2030.
This is extremely important as production burns toxic materials and gasses, which is one of the reasons why climate change is continuing. Other reasons include generating power by burning coal, cutting down forests, using transportation, producing food, and overconsumption. If these are not cut down, and pass 1.5 degrees Celsius, scientists suspect worse, even deadly, weather. Droughts are expected to become worse and even longer, with stronger hurricanes, even more intense wildfires, and melting ice forcing coastal regions underwater. Parts of Los Angeles are thought to be underwater by 2050 and the region will be less green due to massive plant deaths and fires. Currently, the world is teetering on no return and it is predicted that within the next 10 years, the global temperature will rise past dangerously high levels, causing irreversible damage. Ingo Gaida, who teaches AP Environmental Science along with other science classes, states that climate change is a dangerous cycle that can only be broken if we do something about it.
“We're kind of basically destined to be screwed if we don't do something soon,” Gaida said. “because you can't stop it, and it'll last a long time after that before we can go back to pre global warming conditions.”
The Climate Summit is integral for the world to combat the imminent dangers that we are heading towards. The world must work together to turn away from fossil fuels and save the planet, starting with the world leaders.
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