Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. That’s what COP refers to. This is the only world organization designed to coordinate and promote global cooperation to fight climate change. It originally met in 1992, and ever since then, and on an annual basis, it meets in a different city to coordinate global action mandates for the following year. Up until last year’s November 30 to December 12, convention in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, meaningful results in terms of true global warming reduction efforts were minimal. Sure, annual goals were established since 2015, but each nation actually fulfilling those goals is far from a reality. And then, for the last meeting to be in the country where oil exports are its number one priority? What?

Well, there was actually more progress made this time around than ever before, but not after a twisted beginning.

The host and president of the COP28 (28th annual meeting) was a Saudi Sultan, who kicked off a private get-together with the words, “There is no evidence to suggest that a phase out of fossil fuel is necessary to restrict Global Warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-Industrial temperatures.” In fact, the OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) sent out a memo to its member nations urging them to delete any COP language that would eventually phase out fossil fuel production. Not a good start for the rest of us.

Thankfully, after long and contentious debates, the member nations for the first time ever, symbolically agreed to phase out coal, oil and gas. Sadly for citizens everywhere, the phase out words were not put in writing. Therefore, at best, a soft transition to clean energy is underway because details such as a timeframe, plan and actual process have yet to be agreed upon. I wonder how many more annual meetings that will take! 

An itemized roadmap is the only way to shift away from fossil fuel, the 75% driver of global warming. Regardless, this was a critical moment in the climate action dispute between Earth science and BOG, and scientists took a slight lead. After a very long period of planned delay and deflection, we have at least arrived at the place COP envisioned three decades ago. The next question is: Will the start to BOG’s energy transfer commence soon in an orderly fashion, or will the fossil fuel phase out planning session take another thirty years?

Sorry for being overly skeptical. The truth of the matter is our planet really is off to the start many had hoped and prayed for quite a while ago. By the way, the member nations also agreed to stay within the 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit limit on global warming, and the 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit threshold which is the temperature slightly below where the ice sheet in Greenland and Antarctica lose stability and begin to melt uncontrollably.