Calvin Frost04.04.24
Conference of the Parties (COP) met in Dubai in November 2023. This was the 28th World Climate Change Conference. The ultimate irony of this COP28 was not only the location, the United Arab Emirates, one of the largest oil producing regions in the world, but the conference president was Sultan Al Jaber, the head of the state-owned oil company, Adnoc. I mean, come on!
There is no way they were ever going to get many positive things accomplished in that kind of setting with that kind of leadership. Not only did those two facts send a very sorry message, but out of almost 97,000 participants from over 200 countries, there were also 1,400 lobbyists for coal, oil, and gas. The results were predictable: failure.
Al Jaber tried to push a final draft text that had nothing to do with improving our global climate problems. Some of the participants rejected it outright, calling it woefully inadequate. At the end of the day, there were some positive takeaways, thanks to organizations like Greenpeace, Sierra Club, Audubon, The Nature Conservancy, Natural Resources Defense Council, and many others.
The key outcome of COP28 was the conclusion of the first ever Global Stock Take (GST). “The GST was a mid-term review of progress that UN Member States were making toward the 2015 Paris Agreement (which committed countries to limiting temperature increase to below 2 degrees Celsius and targeting 1.5 degrees Celsius compared to the pre-industrial era). The final GST landed on a positive outcome, with a final text calling nations to transition away from fossil fuels. All in all, the UAE consensus can be seen as a win for multilateralism and ultimate diplomacy.”
If you read through the proceedings, there were three or four takeaways from the Dubai meeting:
1) Measuring Actions
This initiative is really critical to demonstrate change! GST will measure, specifically, greenhouse gas emissions. Nations must change as global emissions continue to rise by 1.5% a year when they should be going the other way by 7% annually to 2030 to keep the goal of 1.5 degrees C alive.
The CST was a sobering reminder that the world is far off its target.
There is the need for deep, rapid and sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and calls for parties to contribute to “transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems, in a just, orderly and equitable manner, accelerating action in this critical decade, so as to achieve net-zero by 2050 in keeping with the science.”
2) Tripling renewables, doubling efficiency
I think most of us here in the US are aware of the enormous focus on clean energy build out. It is inevitable. But COP28 emphasized the global implications. To meet the goals of the energy transition, the investment will approach $4.5 trillion by 2030.
Yup, you heard right – trillion. A total of 117 of the 200 participating countries agreed to triple global renewable energy capacity by 2030 and to double the rate of energy efficiency. This commitment enables the adoption of climate technologies to meet decentralization goals with a reliable grid.
3) Re-shaping demand to slash emissions in agriculture
Agriculture/food systems account for 30% of global emissions and other allied issues such as cost and nutrition. The importance of this sector can’t be minimized as every country has a high percentage of their economy based on farming, animal production, and feed and grain produce.
The percentage of land used for food production is huge. Think about cattle production in the US and Australia. Think about coffee and tea in Latin America and Asia. The land mass devoted to agriculture is massive, hence global emissions continuing to grow because of population growth.
We need to produce enough food for the global population, but our aim is also to decouple growth in agriculture and food from harming the environment.
Along with a focus on reducing emissions from agriculture was an agreement to work closely with the UN’s COP on biodiversity. The agreement acknowledges the interdependence with “nature-based agriculture” (Calvin’s definition) and biodiversity.
One additional focus of COP28 was recognizing the importance of “the ocean” as the world’s “largest carbon-sink.” The ocean “absorbs 90% of the warming generated from climate change.”
“COP28 provides an opportunity to bolster blue solutions.” One of the sub-focus issues was the survival of mangroves, an issue we here in the US have tried to address. This initiative restores and/or protects “15 million hectares of mangroves,” which can hold more than four times more carbon than tropical forests by 2030.
So, along with the focus on more sustainable farming and agriculture was a mobilization of nature conservation and restoration for climate resilience.
I guess, at the end of the day, anyone, including me, can throw stones and be cynical about time and place and sincerity of commitment. However, bringing order out of chaos, arriving at some kind of conclusions with almost 100,000 participants, regardless of an oil-rich nation location, regardless of putting 200 different countries together with 200 different agendas, regardless to arrive at constructive conclusive actions, is progress. It remains to be seen whether true action will occur.
Wouldn’t it be just great if our industry, the label industry, could come together with all its diverse players and agendas? Wouldn’t it be great if we, too, could achieve actionable changes that would make us more sustainable?
Another Letter from the Earth
Calvin Frost is chairman of Channeled Resources Group, headquartered in Chicago, the parent company of Maratech International and GMC Coating. His email address is cfrost@channeledresources.com.
There is no way they were ever going to get many positive things accomplished in that kind of setting with that kind of leadership. Not only did those two facts send a very sorry message, but out of almost 97,000 participants from over 200 countries, there were also 1,400 lobbyists for coal, oil, and gas. The results were predictable: failure.
Al Jaber tried to push a final draft text that had nothing to do with improving our global climate problems. Some of the participants rejected it outright, calling it woefully inadequate. At the end of the day, there were some positive takeaways, thanks to organizations like Greenpeace, Sierra Club, Audubon, The Nature Conservancy, Natural Resources Defense Council, and many others.
The key outcome of COP28 was the conclusion of the first ever Global Stock Take (GST). “The GST was a mid-term review of progress that UN Member States were making toward the 2015 Paris Agreement (which committed countries to limiting temperature increase to below 2 degrees Celsius and targeting 1.5 degrees Celsius compared to the pre-industrial era). The final GST landed on a positive outcome, with a final text calling nations to transition away from fossil fuels. All in all, the UAE consensus can be seen as a win for multilateralism and ultimate diplomacy.”
If you read through the proceedings, there were three or four takeaways from the Dubai meeting:
1) Measuring Actions
This initiative is really critical to demonstrate change! GST will measure, specifically, greenhouse gas emissions. Nations must change as global emissions continue to rise by 1.5% a year when they should be going the other way by 7% annually to 2030 to keep the goal of 1.5 degrees C alive.
The CST was a sobering reminder that the world is far off its target.
There is the need for deep, rapid and sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and calls for parties to contribute to “transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems, in a just, orderly and equitable manner, accelerating action in this critical decade, so as to achieve net-zero by 2050 in keeping with the science.”
2) Tripling renewables, doubling efficiency
I think most of us here in the US are aware of the enormous focus on clean energy build out. It is inevitable. But COP28 emphasized the global implications. To meet the goals of the energy transition, the investment will approach $4.5 trillion by 2030.
Yup, you heard right – trillion. A total of 117 of the 200 participating countries agreed to triple global renewable energy capacity by 2030 and to double the rate of energy efficiency. This commitment enables the adoption of climate technologies to meet decentralization goals with a reliable grid.
3) Re-shaping demand to slash emissions in agriculture
Agriculture/food systems account for 30% of global emissions and other allied issues such as cost and nutrition. The importance of this sector can’t be minimized as every country has a high percentage of their economy based on farming, animal production, and feed and grain produce.
The percentage of land used for food production is huge. Think about cattle production in the US and Australia. Think about coffee and tea in Latin America and Asia. The land mass devoted to agriculture is massive, hence global emissions continuing to grow because of population growth.
We need to produce enough food for the global population, but our aim is also to decouple growth in agriculture and food from harming the environment.
Along with a focus on reducing emissions from agriculture was an agreement to work closely with the UN’s COP on biodiversity. The agreement acknowledges the interdependence with “nature-based agriculture” (Calvin’s definition) and biodiversity.
One additional focus of COP28 was recognizing the importance of “the ocean” as the world’s “largest carbon-sink.” The ocean “absorbs 90% of the warming generated from climate change.”
“COP28 provides an opportunity to bolster blue solutions.” One of the sub-focus issues was the survival of mangroves, an issue we here in the US have tried to address. This initiative restores and/or protects “15 million hectares of mangroves,” which can hold more than four times more carbon than tropical forests by 2030.
So, along with the focus on more sustainable farming and agriculture was a mobilization of nature conservation and restoration for climate resilience.
I guess, at the end of the day, anyone, including me, can throw stones and be cynical about time and place and sincerity of commitment. However, bringing order out of chaos, arriving at some kind of conclusions with almost 100,000 participants, regardless of an oil-rich nation location, regardless of putting 200 different countries together with 200 different agendas, regardless to arrive at constructive conclusive actions, is progress. It remains to be seen whether true action will occur.
Wouldn’t it be just great if our industry, the label industry, could come together with all its diverse players and agendas? Wouldn’t it be great if we, too, could achieve actionable changes that would make us more sustainable?
Another Letter from the Earth
Calvin Frost is chairman of Channeled Resources Group, headquartered in Chicago, the parent company of Maratech International and GMC Coating. His email address is cfrost@channeledresources.com.