After a year of unprecedented weather extremes, the upcoming COP28 climate change talks feel more pressing than ever. Focusing on the intersection of food and climate change, the global event begins November 30 in Dubai.
Among the most immediate challenges are finding ways to grow food sustainably, find safe water, and fundamentally live in areas of the world most affected by climate change. University of Vermont researchers Lini Wollenberg and Asim Zia will be convening with colleagues and decision-makers in COP28's to advance policies that will aid people on the ground who now face climate change’s most imminent impacts.
“There’s real urgency for greater climate action—the clock is ticking,” says Zia, who will engage decision-makers at COP28 in discussions around a brand-new U.N. Convention to protect billions of people living in coastal communities vulnerable to flooding, sea-level rise and other risks from climate change. Wollenberg will attend to share the results of a global assessment of the voluntary carbon market in agriculture. She’ll also be sharing digital innovations for farmers and advisors to develop climate-friendly agricultural practices.
Lini Wollenberg
What will you be doing at COP28?
To support governments’ Article 6 negotiations related to global trade of carbon credits, I will share research findings about the current state of the voluntary carbon market for agriculture. This work was produced together with the and . At COP, we hope to engage country delegates in discussion of the findings and their implications for countries’ investments in domestic carbon trading and meeting their nationally determined contributions commitments.
As part of an initiative on digital innovation, hosted by , I will also share innovations in the use and design of digital tools to better enable farmers, extension agents and scientists to develop resilient, low-emission and sustainable farming practices. I’ll be sharing experiences from . In Brazil, a digital advisory tool is being adapted to enable farmers to exchange information via social media such as WhatsApp and YouTube. In Vietnam, extension agents will use digital tools to work with farmers to create benchmarks for sustainable rice production that meets national policy objectives, including climate change targets.
Finally, I expect to share and discuss the results of a climate change study commissioned by the to operationalize the climate strategy for agrifood systems.
What do you hope to achieve at COP28?
COP28 is an ideal platform to present research findings and engage with decision-makers. Our events should provide policymakers with more options to better mobilize finance and digital solutions to support farmers’ transition to low-emission and resilient agriculture.
Asim Zia
What aspects of your work will you be pursuing at COP28?
Developing countries have done the least to cause climate change, yet they are already experiencing adverse consequences from climate-change-induced extreme events. Much of the human population lives in coastal and delta regions—which are vulnerable to sea-level rise and saltwater intrusion from climate change. Thirty-three million people were displaced in the 2022 Indus delta flooding – the second 1000-year flood in 12 years. Flooding in the Niger delta displaced 1.5 million people. Glacial melting and construction of dams in the highlands of river basins is leaving less and less fresh water for low-lying deltas. Despite these huge risks to human and ecological populations, there is no U.N. convention concerning conserving river deltas.
After deliberations among a consortium of vulnerable river basins (Niger, Indus, Mekong, Nile, Jordan, St. Lawrence, Amazon and Mississippi) at COP27, the U.N. Water Conference discussed a formal for establishing a new U.N. Convention for Conserving River Deltas (U.N.-C.C.R.D.).
To advance this, I’m working with a growing consortium of scientists, NGOs and other civil organizations, and mid-level government officials, from more than a dozen river deltas to organize an official U.N.F.C.C.C. side event at COP28 on December 4. We are also organizing a press conference where the official delegates and civil society representing vulnerable deltas will voice their support for U.N.-C.C.R.D. A pre-COP28 is being organized on November 20.
At COP28, we are organizing formal and informal diplomacy events where stakeholders can discuss policy and governance solutions to be incorporated into the official U.N. Convention drafted by representatives from several countries. We eventually hope to invite representatives from all delta countries to contribute to our Convention draft. My work at COP will also involve building awareness among science leaders about integrating scientific knowledge, human behaviors and policies into early-warning systems at climate timescales: 10-year, 25-year, and 50-year timescales. We have the opportunity to pitch nature-based solutions and green infrastructure for building adaptive capacity.
What’s the best-case outcome of your work at COP28?
Delta-dwelling people in poor developing countries are not causing climate change or sea-level rise. We are pitching this at COP to convince industrialized countries who are causing climate change, as well as rapidly industrializing countries, to support and invest in places where vulnerable people are experiencing the life-changing effects of climate change daily. We want to make the Paris Agreement implementation part of the U.N. Convention on Conserving River Deltas.
I am optimistic about our success with the Convention. Our hope is to build a global consensus on community-based solutions that will matter on the ground to people living in delta regions around the world. We want to learn how best to identify, fund and implement innovative, community-centric solutions at COP28, and the negotiations and diplomacy that take place there are key. The best outcome would be, we leave COP28 with more clarity from stakeholders on what to include in the U.N. Convention. It would be a huge success if the new Convention gets implemented, is transformative and builds resilience.
Future impacts depend on actions that humans take, and will be less severe if we act. We’ve got seven years at best to keep planetary warming under the 1.5C goal enshrined in the . We’re seeing the effects already. The clock is ticking.
Eva “Lini” Wollenberg (Gund Institute, Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources) and Asim Zia (Community Development and Applied Economics, CALS) are Gund Fellows.
