The 2023 COP28 conference (COP – Conference of the Parties) began in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Attendance hit an all-time record with at least 45,000 attendees.
Analyzing the data from the first 10 months of 2023, the National Centers for Environmental Information reports that there is a 99% chance that 2023 will be the warmest on record. Global ocean temperatures set a record high during this period as well and Antarctica experienced its sixth consecutive month of lowest sea ice extent ever recorded. For 28 years now, the COP process has brought representatives from around the world together to address the climate crisis. In 2015, a landmark treaty during the COP21 meeting (the Paris Agreement) set a goal to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius, which has recently been reported as unlikely, but not impossible.
After this much time, why is progress so slow? In a recent TED talk, Al Gore discusses two main obstacles: (1) relentless opposition from the fossil fuel industry, including capturing the COP process and (2) the global financial system often works against progress.
Check out the Reuters news article to learn more!