#COP28 Day9: What can you do?
People want a narrative of hope – and that's not actually so hard.
As noted in recent days, we’ve reached the murky middle of the two weeks of global climate diplomacy that is the COP. You could lose hope looking at it, even though there is some relatively good news – like action on methane from the big emitters in the petroleum sector.
Rod Oram appeared on The Detail giving a good description of what COP28 is like. It’s interesting that he disagrees with former New Zealand Climate Change Ambassador Adrian Macey, that the burgeoning masses of protests and NGOs don’t help the diplomacy focus and achieve its goals. I side with Macey.
Here’s the truth: much of what can be done isn’t going to be done by governments, but it could be made easier by governments. I caught the Wellington event run by Rewiring Aotearoa. It is the most hopeful story unfolding in Aotearoa, and it is one everyone can play a part in.
The message is simple. We can all take part. Everything we own, use or see that uses fossil fuels can be converted to electricity. In so many cases, using the best available tech including bringing solar and batteries is at the price point where it makes sense. Either now, or very soon it will save us money. It will also make our lives better.
But we do need to figure out how, just like Rewiring Aotearoa’s CE Mike Casey has done with his cherry orchard. That’s no small feat, and can involve negotiating finance, regulations and new business models. So there is plenty do that doesn’t involve being a visible protester or expert at a COP.
Here’s a direct link to watch Country Calendar and the orchard’s website.
One more thing… agriculture
A lot can also be done on farm, and of course farming is main source of emissions for New Zealand. The big announcement in agriculture was bilateral support from the United States and host UAE for a range of agricultural initiatives, in 27 projects that largely to support low and middle income nations.
I’ll keep watching COP28, but don’t lose track of what you can do!