Midway between COPs, the heat is on

We’re halfway between the UN’s two major climate conferences — COP28 and COP29 — and the key issues on the agenda are starting to take shape.

Six months on from COP28, over 6,000 participants are convening in Germany for the Bonn Climate Change Conference.

The conference is set to reflect upon the issues raised at Dubai’s COP28 in 2023, helping shape the agenda for COP29 this November, held in at Baku.

COP28 focused on a variety of key issues split between adapting to the climate crisis (climate finance, loss and damage, health) and prevention of irreparable catastrophe (carbon capture storage, fossil fuel phaseouts).

But it also brought to the fore explicit tensions which continue to undermine progress on climate: COP28’s chair, Sultan Al-Jaber, who runs Abu Dhabi’s national oil and gas company, was accused of denying climate science, a charge which he rejected.

Global finance on renewables is still greatly lacking and transition to net zero is mired in regional in-fighting.

UN climate chief Simon Stielle has put the world on notice: we’ve got two years left to save the planet. As we inch towards the point of no return, each year takes on more importance than the last.

360info looks at what has happened since COP28 and what may dominate the agenda at COP29, setting the scene for a defining year in climate.

Featuring articles from:

• Eleanor Gordon, Senior Lecturer in Politics & International Relations at Monash’s University and Director of the Monash Global Peace and Security Centre and a Senior Lecturer at Monash University
• Peter Newman AO, John Curtin Distinguished Professor of Sustainability at the Curtin University Sustainability Policy Institute.
• Justin See, postdoctoral research fellow in climate change adaptation at the Sydney Environment Institute at The University of Sydney.

Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.