The United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP-28) took place in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), from November 30, 2023, to December 12, 2023.
Additionally, it established the framework for “delivering a successful COP 28 that fosters ambitious climate action and facilitates implementation, including the related support, and drives global transformation towards a low-emission and climate-resilient world.”
Governments at the United Nations climate change conference in Paris, known as COP 21, concurred that to fulfill the objectives of the Paris Agreement, there is an urgent need to mobilize greater and more ambitious climate action.
In order to enable even greater ambition from states and the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its SDGs, including Goal 13 (climate action), the Paris Agreement publicly underscores the urgent need to scale up our global response to climate change.
Following are the basic tenets for climate change mitigation:
Finance
More funding, at a lower cost, and more accessibility are all necessities for governments. Take heed of the global community’s appeal for an all-encompassing overhaul of international financial institutions and multilateral development banks. The UAE wants to be proactive, encouraging, and assisting in this process as chair of the World Bank-IMF Development Committee.
Mitigation
By 2030, the amount of renewable energy generated must be tripled, from 8 to 23 TW hours. Change the food and agricultural systems by investing more in agri-tech, using water more creatively, and producing food more quickly. Reduce methane, increase hydrogen, and expedite decarbonization by collaborating with the energy sector.
Adaptation
Extreme weather and biodiversity loss must be prevented in order to save the most vulnerable populations and vital infrastructure. Rainforest protection and the use of natural alternatives, such as mangroves, which serve as effective carbon sinks and save coastlines and natural ecosystems, are also recommended. Make sure that the weather patterns that are threatening farmers worldwide can be accommodated by our global food system.
Loss and Damage
Assist those who are most in need of rebuilding following climate-related disasters. Expand on Sharm El Sheikh’s achievements in collaboration with the global community to fully operationalize the loss-and-damage fund.
What role can geospatial play?
Planning, observing, discussing, and comprehending climate change all depend on geospatial data and instruments. They give an effective means to gather, evaluate, and exchange data that is vital for climate change action.
Understanding: Due to its ability to reveal changes in the earth’s physical processes over time, geospatial imaging aids in our understanding of climate change. Along with other factors like plant health, this data covers land cover and usage, sea level rise, glacier retreat, and ice loss. Our understanding of how the earth’s climate is changing and might change in the future has improved as a result of our analysis of this data.
Monitoring: Geospatial imagery is especially useful for monitoring climate change since it provides real-time or near-real-time data on weather patterns, natural catastrophes, and other climate-related phenomena. This information may assist scientists and policymakers in identifying trends and patterns, tracking changes over time, and making educated decisions about how to address climate-related concerns.
Planning adaptation and mitigation: The impact of climate change can be lessened by using geospatial images to identify vulnerable groups and locations and to develop mitigation and adaptation measures. Data on water resources, land use, infrastructure, and other aspects impacted by climate change are included in this.
Communication: Maps, charts, and other easily understood visuals may be used to represent geospatial images, which can aid in people’s understanding of the effects of climate change. Geospatial technologies can aid in increasing awareness of climate change and motivating action by concisely and simply conveying complicated facts.
How Does AI Help?
Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming an increasingly significant weapon in the battle against climate change. Machine learning algorithms can assist in discovering and monitoring changes in the natural environment by evaluating vast amounts of data from visual sources (e.g., satellites, drones, and other aerial sources), which can give crucial insights into the consequences of climate change.
One of the primary advantages of utilizing AI to evaluate EO data is its capacity to handle and analyze massive volumes of data in a timely and correct manner. Satellites may generate massive volumes of data on a regular basis, which would be impossible to interpret manually.
Machine learning algorithms can filter through this data fast and discover items, patterns, and changes in the earth’s natural systems, which can aid in identifying locations most vulnerable to climate change.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has the potential to detect deforestation in real time, which is a major cause of greenhouse gas emissions. Forest cover changes over time may be monitored and cleared areas can be easily identified by utilizing machine learning techniques and satellite picture analysis.
The capacity of large-scale geospatial imaging analysis to offer a thorough perspective of agricultural land in real-time or almost real-time is one of its main advantages. This enables farmers to track changes over time, see trends and patterns, and modify their farming methods as necessary.
Farmers may identify parts of the field that need more water or nutrients by using geospatial images to monitor crop health, for example. This may lead to further efficient use of resources, reduced waste, and higher crop yields.
Greenhouse Gases
Climate change is mostly caused by the powerful greenhouse gas methane. Although it is found in considerably lower percentages than carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere, methane is a much more potent heat-trapping gas. Methane has a 28-fold higher heat-trapping efficiency than carbon dioxide over a 100-year period.
This enables users to examine information from a variety of spectral bands, such as the shortwave infrared band, that are not visible to the naked eye. High concentrations of methane that would be undetectable to the human eye or other sensors can be found by examining images captured in the shortwave infrared spectrum.
Earth Observation Applications
Regions of forest cover decline may be found and explored, with conservation efforts focused on these regions using satellite imaging analysis. In order to stop more harm from being done to these significant ecosystems, geospatial imaging may also be used to track illicit mining and logging operations.
In particular, coastal regions that are susceptible to erosion and sea level rise can benefit from the monitoring and management of coasts through the use of geographic imaging. It is feasible to spot changes in dunes, coastal vegetation, and other landforms crucial for stopping erosion and safeguarding coastal settlements by examining satellite imagery.
In addition, it may be used to track how coastal development affects natural ecosystems and assist in determining which regions require conservation initiatives.
Wildfires, storms, and floods are examples of climate-related disasters that may have catastrophic effects on communities, particularly those who are already marginalized, impoverished, and vulnerable. Using EO images, one may determine which places require aid, estimate the level of damage caused by these disasters, and direct rehabilitation efforts.
The most vulnerable populations can get aid through this information, which can also be utilized to prioritize relief operations and direct the distribution of resources for reconstruction.
Zones can also be identified that are at high risk of future disasters, such as flood-prone or landslide-prone zones. Ultimately, crucial assets that require rebuilding or repair may be identified with the use of efficient analysis of such photos. This can guarantee that the most valuable assets are given priority and that data, not conjecture, is used to direct rebuilding operations.
The term “sustainable cooling” describes the application of energy-efficient, ecologically friendly, and socially conscious cooling techniques and technologies. Sustainable cooling is becoming a crucial component of efforts to combat climate change and provide access to cooling for everyone, especially in developing nations, as global temperatures rise and the need for cooling grows.
The phenomenon known as the “urban heat island” occurs when urban areas heat more than nearby rural regions as a result of development. Natural vegetation and open areas are being replaced by roads, buildings, and other infrastructure that absorbs and holds onto heat as cities expand. Because of this, the temperature in metropolitan areas—especially at night—is usually several degrees higher than in the surrounding rural areas.
Summary of Global Climate Action at COP 28
Under the direction of the COP 28 Presidency, several advancements under the Global Climate Action Agenda have been noted throughout the two weeks of COP 28. The four main goals of the COP 28 Presidency’s global climate action are as follows: i) expediting a fair, orderly, and just energy transition; ii) addressing climate financing; iii) emphasizing people, lives, and livelihoods; and iv) ensuring complete inclusion in everything.
The Global Renewable and Energy Efficiency Pledge was introduced by the COP 28 Presidency, who played a significant role in hastening the energy transition. The pledge requires signatories to commit to working together to double the global average annual rate of energy efficiency improvements from around two percent to over four percent every year until 2030, as well as to triple the installed renewable energy generation capacity to at least 11,000 GW by that time.
Finance Outcomes
A number of national governments and organizations made climate finance pledges during COP 28, focusing on the Green Climate Fund, Adaptation Fund, Least Developed Countries Fund, and Special Climate Change Fund, among other funds. Thirteen country governments signed the UAE Leaders’ Declaration on a Global Climate Finance Framework, which was spearheaded by the COP 28 Presidency.
In an effort to halt the devastation of the world’s rainforests, the International Climate and Forest Initiative (NICFI) of Norway and the Bezos Earth Fund have launched a new collaboration to continue giving everyone free access to high-resolution satellite data.
For a maximum of four years, NICFI will provide a total of 100 million NOK to a new phase of the initiative. Assuming a successful outcome from the next procurement procedure, the Bezos Earth Fund anticipates making a comparable contribution to the initiative.
In a nutshell, Geospatial Data and analysis is the only mechanism that ensures the global climate change mitigation path is followed in the required time frame.
