In December, our group of 16 University of Michigan graduate students had the honor of attending the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP) in Dubai, UAE, the meeting of the supreme decision-making body of United Nations Climate Change (the UNFCCC). As students, attending COP 28 presented an opportunity to be involved in the process as …
Continue reading Progress, Public Engagement, and Greenwashing at COP 28
COP 28 is the most significant annual climate change conference of 2023, hosted in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Organized with the support of oil companies and executives, it promises a smoother transition to green energy and the end of the fossil fuel era. Representatives and heads of state from 154 countries worldwide convened to discuss …
Continue reading Reflections on COP 28 – A Step Forward in Climate Action ?
As a former employee and scholarship beneficiary of an oil and gas company in a developing country, COP28 presented an intriguing paradox. This industry, notorious for historically denying climate science, was about to discuss its role in combating climate change. The setting was fittingly ironic - the oil-rich United Arab Emirates, chaired by an oil …
Continue reading Fuel for Thought: COP28 Confronts Oil & Gas
“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.” – Albert Einstein Can climate models embolden the imagination enough to push us through political stalemates? We are getting reports that the …
“I would rather see no deal at all than a watered-down version that doesn’t help anyone,” fellow U of M delegate Ahmed Tawfik told Keith Schneider of Circle of Blue and Climate Action Network. Ahmed isn’t alone. Only half way through the conference, already many people are beginning to fear that the bureaucratic powers-at-be won’t …
Continue reading 50,000 Demonstrators Expected for Today’s Protest March in Copenhagen
I had heard from friends who studied abroad in Copenhagen that traveling by bike is “the only way to see the city,” but I was totally unprepared for the number of bikes that they have here. The bike lanes are serious—clearly marked, and if a pedestrian dares to step out when the crosswalk is flashing …
An excerpt taken from Circle of Blue, the non-profit journalism organization reporting the global freshwater crisis that I work for...this excerpt comes from our "Water + Climate" series in the lead-up to the Copenhagen Conference which features news articles linking global climate change and water-related problems in the areas of agriculture, energy, infrastructure, and human …
Climate Blue 