WHAT DOES COP28 “TRANSITION” REALLY ACHIEVE ?

After hundreds of millions have been spent for a Jamboree in the desert what really is the outcome ?. Professor Kelman, an expert in disasters and health at University College London, says that most countries, including the UK and the US, have been “transitioning away from fossil fuels” for decades. “This is simply the international community saying we agree that we are transitioning and will continue to transition. “But what does it mean? Not a lot unless we act on it. It’s just legal terminology. We’ve had similar wording in agreements before that haven’t been acted on.” COP places no legal obligation on its signatories to meet the terms of its agreements. In response, countries are expected to update their own climate change legislation and ‘nationally determined contributions (NDCs)’, drawn up as part of the 2015 Paris climate agreement, accordingly. It is said that this year’s COP agreement is “really important to set the stage” as new NDCs are currently being devised ahead of the next set of targets in 2025. By the time we get to COP in Brazil in 2025, we’ve got a possibility of a major closing of the gap in terms of what nations are committing to do and how that adds up to limiting warming close to 1.5C. Professor Kelman is more sceptical, saying the lack of accountability and enforcement for countries who fall behind on their promises makes the process “meaningless”. So maybe another 2 year wait to see if we get a “legally binding” treaty that really nails down final deadlines but will that be once again more legal jargon to kick the can further down the road as Sunak has done recently with his new plans for further oil and coal licences.