The Overlooked National Innovators At COP28
By Ariel Cohen, alumnus of The Fletcher School, Senior Fellow at Atlantic Council
COP28, the United Nations climate change conference, has convened under an atmosphere of scandal. The conference, aimed at curbing manmade climate change, has been marred by controversies. Hosted by the UAE, the conference raised eyebrows by dismissing the necessity of eventually transitioning away from fossil fuels while it simultaneously sought oil deals with multiple nations during this environmental summit.
Beyond the media scandals lies a flawed assumption at the heart of the otherwise noble COP28 and the UN’s climate strategy. The UN and COP28 largely hold that the path toward carbon neutrality requires uniform policies and coordination to avoid free-rider problems. This belief that the path toward green energy follows a uniform ladder, traversable only through synchronized steps, overlooks reality.
Achieving a carbon-neutral future demands diverse, region-specific approaches, embracing avenues suitable for local green development, including the judicious use of nuclear power where feasible. Chastising the global south for resource usage and deviation from UN plans while disregarding our own history of early industrialization headless of ecological damage is not just hypocritical, patronizing and counterproductive, but risks the energy transition. What suits affluent Western nations might prove disastrous elsewhere.
Rather than spotlighting pledges and superficial agreements made for optics, COP28 and the media should shine a light on the obscured successes, both minor and substantial, achieved in the past year or on the sidelines of the conference. These accomplishments deserve celebration and replication where applicable.
Take Brazil for instance. It entered COP28 openly angry at the EU’s proposed Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (a carbon tariff), spearheading a coalition of developing commodity exporting states. Brazil, which must safeguard the Amazon as the “Lungs of the World,” must balance international environmental demands with its own developmental requirements. Brazil will present plans to reforest parts of the Amazon cut down for pastureland, but is reasonably expecting something in return. The incredible demands Brazil must juggle appear to be slowly resolved, however, with progress being made with the EU and U.S. The future of the largest land-based carbon sink will likely depend on the details of emerging trade agreements more than anything else.
Kazakhstan was another big quiet innovator at COP28. It forged an alliance with the U.S., committing to fulfill its obligations under the Global Methane Pledge. This partnership aligns with the U.S.’ ambitious plan to slash methane output by 80% in a decade. Kazakhstan also inked a pioneering agreement with France to host a One Water Summit in 2024, a crucial step given France’s expertise in water management and Kazakhstan’s precarious water situation exacerbated by the Aral Sea crisis and drying glacier-fed rivers. To ensure these international agreements are domestically institutionalized, Kazakhstan also signaled its willingness to engage with the Just Energy Transition Partnership.
As a result of these talks, Kazakhstan secured $1.4 billion of investment from foreign backers to reduce methane emissions, accelerate its digital transformation and cut carbon emissions by 15% across the board by 2030. Most importantly, Kazakhstan and a host of partners signed a deal for $4.85 billion worth of investment across the energy sector to help make it more efficient and greener. This represents not only a win for the environment but a geopolitical win for Kazakhstan, which must fend off Russian and Chinese dominance in its economy with other foreign investors. Kazakhstan testifies to the power of using the COP28 to advance domestic programs and secure foreign partnerships to realize green objectives.
Counterintuitively, another great demonstration of what can be quietly achieved at COP28 comes from a state not formally included—Taiwan. The One China Policy precludes Taiwan’s direct involvement, despite requests from others that it participate, resulting in Taiwanese representation and participation at the conference being confined to informal delegates, private companies and bilateral negotiation officially unconnected with the event. This provides Taiwan with a hidden blessing: it can effectively engage with the world with little expectation that it engages in political theater for domestic constituents. The result; Taiwan is not only on the whole a valued green partner for many states well on the way to being carbon neutral, but is in the midst of making substantive gains from COP28. It is also making its presence felt at COP28, by echoing calls for more nuclear power and making more institutional connections.
For every cynical promise at COP28, numerous invaluable lessons are being shared, each holding the potential to contribute to a better world. Collectively, these lessons can approximate wisdom, given the opportunity. Rather than fixating on political theatrics dominating headlines, let’s focus on the overlooked successes driving genuine policy innovation at COP28.
(This post is republished from Forbes.)