Community Voices

COP28 in UAE Sings the Praises of Blue Carbon Ecosystems

Coming into the second week of COP28 in Dubai, I was advised to temper my expectations for progress towards consensus from negotiations in the two areas I was most interested in observing: climate adaptation and loss and damage. However, one theme that was especially popular this year was nature-based solutions and the concept of “blue carbon,” which promotes the role of coastal and ocean ecosystems in increasing the resilience of onshore communities, as well as protecting and building carbon sinks for the purpose of mitigating net greenhouse gas emissions.

Climate Policy LabDecember 13, 20232023, COP28, Author - Selena WallaceComment

Day in a Life at COP28

What is the day in the life at COP28? Mieke van der Wansem takes you through a typical day filled with events, meetings, and meals at COP28 in Dubai.

Climate Policy LabDecember 13, 20232023, COP28, author - Mieke van der Wansem

This Time Transition Means Phase Out

I attended the first week of COP28 in Dubai. The hours-long lines in the sun of the first few days are now a memory and I'm eagerly awaiting the text of the COP decision. Hopefully countries will end the meeting with an ambitious final agreement but, at the moment, it seems doubtful because of a particularly contentious point: the language surrounding a fossil fuel "phase out" or "phase down". It was expected to be this year’s biggest sticking point and it has lived up to expectations.

Climate Policy LabDecember 12, 20232023, Author - Travis Franck, COP28Comment

Progress with Climate Finance at COP28?

As a pre-doctoral researcher with a focus on financing climate action in developing economies, my primary objective for attending COP28 was to monitor progress of negotiations on three key climate finance topics: the Loss and Damage Fund, the new collective and quantified goal (NCQG) for climate finance, and reforms of multilateral development banks (MDBs).

Climate Policy LabDecember 11, 20232023, Author - Seth Owusu-Mante, COP28Comment

The Climate Community at COP28 – Banking on the Small Wins While Fighting for Better Collective Ambition

The COP negotiation process has been stuck forever in lexical semantics, with respective countries arguing over each word in the negotiating text to ensure the least amount of global climate action burden for themselves. Nevertheless, establishing a loss and damage fund and mobilizing finance for the adaptation fund are significant wins so far, and these small wins continue to provide hope for a more significant collective ambition in the future.

Climate Policy LabDecember 11, 20232023, Author - Easwaran Narassimhan, COP28Comment

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