Joining the global climate conversation: SMM at COP28
From the environmental research happening every day at our St. Croix Watershed Research Station to the creative energy efficiency strategies that we are employing in our buildings, the Science Museum is driven to use science to find solutions for our changing climate.
The United Nations Climate Change Conference is an important place, then, for the Science Museum to both collect information about climate research and innovations and share its own climate adaptations with representatives from nations around the world.
In December 2023, the Science Museum’s Manager of Sustainability Initiatives, Patrick Hamilton, attended the conference, known as COP28 (or the 28th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change). Held this year in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, “COP is where the world comes together to agree on ways to address the climate crisis.” (UNFCCC.int)
Putting Minnesota on an international stage
Attending the conference for the seventh time, Hamilton welcomed the opportunity to tell the Science Museum’s story of climate action leadership. As a model of sustainability and one of the first cultural institutions to join America Is All In in 2018, the museum is a great example of the power of cultural institutions for sharing ideas and generating enthusiasm for how America can mobilize to meet the climate challenge.
And the museum is in good company among climate action advocates here in Minnesota. In 2023, Minnesota lawmakers passed an unprecedented 45 separate energy and climate action policies. On Dec. 4, Hamilton joined J. Drake Hamilton, Senior Director of Science Policy for Fresh Energy; Scott Tew, Vice President for Sustainability for Trane Technologies; and Elizabeth Kautz, Mayor of Burnsville and a member of the U.S. Conference of Mayors delegation to COP28 for a session titled Supercharging Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation: The Minnesota Model. The session explored how this recent burst of policymaking in Minnesota can inform similar surges in climate action elsewhere.
Key takeaways from COP28
While Hamilton was at the conference, he had the opportunity to learn about the innovations that have allowed Dubai to grow exponentially over the past few decades in one of the most arid regions in the world. He also saw the leadership the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is taking in its commitment to climate action. While its wealth as a nation cannot be denied, UAE used the conference to showcase the many ways it is investing in renewable energy and energy efficiency technology to help address the climate crisis. UAE financed $30 billion in Altérra, a new fund designated to catalyze the acceleration of developing countries transitioning to renewable energy, and the nation announced its commitment to grow the fund to $250 billion by 2030.
Other key takeaways from COP28 include:
A surge in attendance. More than 85,000 people attended COP28 in 2023, a sharp increase from the 37,000 who attended COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, in 2022. This is in large part due to the ease of traveling to Dubai, which is home to one of the world’s busiest airports. It also indicates, however, that more nations are recognizing the emergent nature of the climate crisis. “What was once a future problem has become the lived experience of everyone, everywhere,” Hamilton said.
Global Methane Pledge shows promising growth, with new technology on the horizon. Originally created at COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, the Global Methane Pledge calls on nations to cut their emissions of methane, one of the most potent greenhouse gasses, by 30% by 2030. Reducing methane emissions is the single most effective way of slowing climate change as we transition away from fossil fuels in our global energy systems. One hundred and fifty-five nations have signed the pledge. Plus, new satellite monitoring equipment is nearly ready, which will provide visualization of methane gas emissions anywhere in the world. “Methane gas is colorless, odorless, and tasteless,” Hamilton said “Thanks to this satellite imagery, what was long invisible is now visible. Areas of high methane emissions can now be identified so that repairs and corrections can be made.”
Loss and Damage Fund is operationalized. At COP27, island nations and nations in Africa and South Asia were successful in pushing forward funding for climate damage, securing international consensus that climate change is now causing disproportionate damage to countries that had little to do with causing the problem. The Marshall Islands, for example, are increasingly threatened by rising sea levels and supertyphoons that are driven by extremely warm Pacific Ocean temperatures. “The challenge now,” Hamilton said, “is getting wealthier nations to contribute to the Loss and Damage Fund. At this year’s conference, the fund was operationalized, several nations stepped forward with money, and there is now a mechanism for distributing it.” This is just the beginning, however. Climate-related damages far outpace the funds contributed thus far.
Global Stocktake completed. An assessment of how the nations that signed on to the Paris Agreement in 2015 are progressing toward their climate mitigation goals, the Global Stocktake shows that we still have lots of work to do. In order to limit global temperature increase to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, the world needs to speed up decarbonization by tripling investments in renewables and doubling energy efficiency efforts by 2030.
Formal recognition of the need to move away from fossil fuels. For the first time in the history of COP negotiations, all parties present declared the need to transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems. Developing nations have long been advocating for this, and now this language is part of the official COP28 agreement, which was finalized on the last day of the conference.
Looking ahead
The Science Museum is firmly committed to advancing its own climate action goals (including carbon neutrality by 2030!) and serving as a model of sustainable innovation for cultural institutions and other large urban buildings.
How are we doing this? By adopting energy efficient technologies, partnering with organizations with similar goals, playing a key role in the Association of Science andTechnology Centers’ Seeding Action initiative for planetary health, and equipping our audiences with knowledge, tools, and resources to make their own small steps toward big goals.
