Ep. 011: What is COP 28 and why should we care?

Written By Tom Constable

As one of the key mechanisms of international action to address climate change, this episode covers everything you need to know about the COP: why it exists, what happens during the COP, the critiques of the process and what we should look out for at COP 28. ‘We can’t really afford not to engage with the COP, and not to drive the movement to lower the emissions to the level we need.’ - Noora Firaq, Climate Outreach.

Our Guest

Noora is the Deputy CEO of Climate Outreach where she leads on organisational development and business strategy. Noora is from the Maldives – one of the most climate-vulnerable countries in the world due to the country’s natural land scarcity and low-lying geography. Having experienced how people and communities are adapting to climate change, Noora is passionate about having an inclusive conversation about how we tackle climate change as a global community.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/noorafiraq/

Your Hosts

Grange Project Contact & Social Media

Listen out for:

[00:00:00] Tom and Chloe remind listeners about the aims of the Wilder Podcast and share their hopes for the episode today, alongside an introduction to Noora Firaq.

[00:03:30] We are joined by Noora Firaq, she introduces herself and some of the work of Climate Outreach. 

[00:07:25] We get stuck-in to the theme of today’s episode, discussing what is the COP, who attends and what occurs during the process.

[00:18:10] Tom questions Noora about some of the criticisms of the COP process, specifically that they haven’t had the specific impact we require to address increasing emissions. 

[00:22:50] We discuss the legal obligations of the COP process, and the best approach to engage people in a change process (using the recent change to 20mph in urban areas in Wales as an example!)

[00:27:52] Noora shares some of the historic achievements of COP, specifically focusing on the Paris Agreement in 2015.

[00:30:40] We look towards COP 28, what we should be looking out for and how you can engage with the COP process.

[00:34:40] We talk about Noora’s current levels of optimism and her hopes for the future.

[00:36:16] Tom and Chloe reflect on the interview and what resonated for them both.

Keen for more:  

 

Websites

https://climateoutreach.org to find out more about how they’re putting people at the heart of tackling climate change, focusing their efforts on six key programme areas they believe are critical to building a social mandate for climate change: communities, impact and adaptation, policy and just transition, visuals and media, lifestyle changes and science communicators.

https://climateoutreach.org/britain-talks-climate/ Britain Talks Climate is an evidence-based toolkit designed to support any organisation that wants to engage the British public on climate change. It offers a shared, strategic understanding of the British public, and – against a backdrop of growing concern about polarisation – identifies effective ways to engage across the whole of society. The segmentation research underpinning Britain Talks Climate is More in Common’s Core Beliefs model.

https://www.cop28.com for all the information about the COP 28 UAE.

Podcasts

The podcast "Outrage and Optimism" is a weekly podcast that explores the climate crisis from a dual perspective of outrage and optimism. The podcast is hosted by Christiana Figueres, Tom Rivett-Carnac and Paul Dickinson, and it features interviews with scientists, policymakers, activists, and everyday people who are working to address climate change. https://www.outrageandoptimism.org

Tom Constable
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