Working towards a brighter future…

This year, alongside some major leisure and lifestyle events, there’s a big global spectacle taking place in Dubai in 2023: COP28. The annual COP summit is mostly for stakeholders and world leaders, but we are all stakeholders when it comes to the fight against climate change.

And with the event set to draw people in their thousands to the city, we’re breaking down exactly what COP28 is, when it’s happening in the UAE, and what to expect.

More than just climate change awareness

The Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is an international summit that has been taking place since 1995. The summit is held annually unless decided otherwise by the parties. This year is an important year as it is seven years after the initial Paris Agreement (the international treaty on climate change), with seven years to go until 2030.

The COP is where world leaders gather to work together on solutions that tackle the most pressing climate change issues. There are now a total of 199 parties involved in the convention, this is made up of a total of 198 states plus the European Union.

This year marks the 28th annual summit and this year COP28 will be hosted here in the UAE, in Expo City, Dubai. The summit will take place from Thursday, November 30 until Tuesday, December 12.

The UAE this year seeks to ‘unite the world towards an agreement on bold, practical and ambitious solutions towards the most pressing global challenge of our time.’ As the hosts of COP28 this year, the UAE has undertaken a two-year leadership role wherein the country will assume the presidency, and after that, the presidency will be passed onto the next hosting party.

The event

The event this year will be split into two main zones: The Blue and Green Zones.

The Blue Zone

This zone is strictly for accredited participants such as the COP parties, world leaders, and observers. This zone aims to host formal negotiations across the two weeks of the conference. Here, the World Climate Action Summit, country pavilions, presidency events, countless panel discussions, round tables and cultural events will also take place.

The Green Zone

This is where the public gets involved: The Green Zone is open to delegates and guests of the Blue Zone, people of the private and public sector as well as NGOs and the general public.

Within this zone, there will be three different categories for visitors to explore. The sponsor and stakeholder hub where decarbonization, technology and innovation as well as knowledge on the summit will be shared. Visitors can also expect curated content such as conferences, panels, round tables, entertainment and more will be hosted. Lastly, there will be a focus on community engagement where the youth hub and a focus on Emirati culture will be available to explore.

Tickets

Public tickets for COP28 aren’t available yet, with prices still TBC. For a full schedule of the two-week summit and tickets once they are released click here.

COP28, Expo City, Dubai, Thu Nov 30 to Tue Dec 12. cop28.com

Images: Unsplash