A Solution to Pollution (COP28 recap)

By Milo Schwartz

Protesters at the Climate March taking to the streets, fighting for change. Photo by Fo Venne

On November 30, 2023, the 28th Conference of the Parties kicked off. Known as COP, the Conference of the Parties is an annual event where countries discuss efforts to solve climate change. As of December 2023, 197 countries are involved in the conference. 

Each year, COP is hosted by a different country. This year, COP28 was in Dubai. During the two-week-long conference, very important decisions were made that will impact our future, such as a fund for countries suffering with climate change. Abdullah Yassin from 704 stated, “I believe that it would have a great impact on those countries suffering from damage caused by climate change.”

2023 was full of climate-related disasters. The wildfires in Canada back in June were very memorable, especially with the orange fog everywhere. Even though that seemed like that was the apocalypse, other parts of the world have been hit with much worse disasters. For example, in Northern India, torrential downpours and flooding caused at least 31 people to lose their lives as of December 2023. This happens in our country too. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the United States alone in 2023 reported twenty-five events that have each cost the government over one billion dollars, including heat waves and droughts in the southwestern U.S. over the summer. 

In January, New Yorkers finally discovered snow on their weather forecast after seven hundred days of sadness and unfortunately, no sledding. Monserrat Granados Salazar in 701 stated that she was, “shocked and surprised that it finally had snowed.”

Another achievement at COP28 was an agreement titled, “A Global Renewables and Energy Efficiency Pledge” which compels countries who signed it to work together to triple the world’s renewable energy capacity by the year 2030. Renewable energy consists of natural resources that are replenished, including solar, wind, and tidal energy.

On December 13, COP28 included an agreement that was trying to replace fossil fuels. Although the event occurred in Dubai, the effects of the decision mentioned will affect people around the world. People not being able to use fossil fuels the way they did before could impact the way that people do everyday things. For example, gas ovens and stoves would have to be replaced with electric stoves. Also, regions such as the middle east will have severe economic impacts due to their strong reliance on the fossil fuel and oil industry. 

In his closing speech, Simon Stiell, the United Nations climate change executive secretary, stated, “Whilst we didn’t turn the page on the fossil fuel era in Dubai, this outcome is the beginning of the end.”