The COP: A High School Reunion for the Climate World, Part 2

 
 

episode summary

The Conference of the Parties, commonly referred to as COP, represents the largest annual gathering worldwide dedicated to addressing climate change. COPs are organised under the auspices of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), an institution that originated during the 1992 Rio Earth Summit. The UNFCCC instituted a comprehensive climate framework that imposes legally binding commitments on its signatory nations, collectively known as the treaty's parties. These parties have the authority to shape the treaty and its implementation. To facilitate this collective decision-making process, regular meetings are convened, termed Conferences of the Parties, or COP. Currently, there are 197 parties participating in the UNFCCC.

Hosted by different nations on a rotating basis, this series of conferences commenced in Berlin in 1995, and since then, 27 COP events have taken place. Notable among these are COP21 in Paris in 2015, which led to the historic Paris Agreement; COP3 in Kyoto in 1997, instrumental in establishing the Kyoto Protocol, and the less successful COP15 in Copenhagen in 2009. The current iteration, COP28, is scheduled to convene in Dubai, UAE, in late November 2023. 

In this two-part segment, producers Greg and Izzie offer an exclusive glimpse behind the scenes of COP. They delve into the inherent challenges embedded in its structure, engage in conversations with a diverse range of COP participants, from former prime ministers to youth activists, and unravel this year’s big talking points - and all of this will be viewed through the prism of that stormy formative period in one's life: high school.

The COP is the high school reunion for the climate world.

FEATURED IN THIS EPISODE

  • Jamie Henn (Director at Fossil Free Media)

  • Glen Peters (Climatologist and Research Director at the International Centre for Climate Research (CICERO) in Norway)

  • Harjeet Singh (Head of Global Political Strategy at Climate Action Network International)

  • Enele Sapoaga (Former Prime Minister of Tuvalu)

  • Angelique Pouponneau (lawyer, negotiator and environmentalist from Seychelles)

  • Ronny Jumeau (ambassador for Climate Change and small islands from the Republic of Seychelles)

  • Richard Betts (Lead on climate change impacts at the UK met office)

  • Tom Goldtooth (Executive director from the Indigenous Environmental Network)

  • Nameetha Vivek (NDC Partnership)

  • Tally Terena (Indigenous woman from Terena Brazil)

  • Glen Chebon Kernell (ordained elder and representative of the World Council of Churches)

  • Daisy Jeffrey (Australian climate activist)

  • Antonio Peñarrubia (La 7, a regional public TV network in Spain)

  • Matt Mcgrath (BBC climate correspondent)

RESOURCES AND DOCUMENTS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE