I am not sure where to start with this final newsletter about my COP28 experience. I have been back for almost two weeks now. My henna has faded, my blisters have healed, and I have caught up on my sleep. On my flight back from Dubai the final text from COP28 was published, and thankfully it is better than we thought but it is still not enough. A summary from The Guardian states the main key points from the final text.
It reinforced the 1.5ºC goal and recognized it would require a 43% emissions cut by 2030 and 60% by 2035 relative to 2019 levels. It implies a major increase in targets and policies when countries submit new commitments in 2025.
Countries backed a call for global renewable energy to be tripled and the rate of energy efficiency improvements doubled by 2030.
A statement that global emissions should peak by 2025 was dropped. China, among others, objected to this despite evidence it may be on track to peak its own emissions by then.
Language backed by fossil fuel interests found its way into the text, including “transitional fuels” – seen as a code for natural gas – and “carbon capture and utilization and storage”.
Little progress was made on climate adaptation and finance, which the deal acknowledges will need trillions of dollars in support.
A loss and damage fund to help the most vulnerable repair the damage from climate breakdown was operationalized – a major step forward – but significant work remains to build its capacity.
It is staggering that this is the first, final text of a COP to include the words “fossil fuels” and “transition away from fossil fuels”. To some extent, this proves that almost all countries in the UN realize that fossil fuels have the most damaging environmental impact on the Earth. Although this is true, we cannot move on to renewables without thanking the brilliant people who discovered the usefulness of fossil fuels. We would not even be close to the amazing feats we have accomplished to this date. Medicine, electricity, heat, transportation, and just about everything else in this world owes part of their existence to fossil fuels. Furthermore, I think because of fossil fuels, we can create better, cleaner kind of energy whether that be solar, wind, or electricity in general.
Let’s take it back a couple days before Christmas. Did you guy a gift you were so excited to give to someone you love? Did you spend days scouring the internet or actually going to different stores, putting it together, and wrapping it? Maybe you put in a lot of effort, and spent more money that you originally had in your budget, but you know it will be so worth it when you see that person’s face when they open it. Imagine it is Christmas Day and you finally give your present to the person you love the most—the person who literally means the world to you. What if they took your gift, opened it with so much excitement, and absolutely loved it because they knew you went out of your way to get this for them.
After a few days, you see your gift has a couple of scratches on it, but it’s no big deal because you know it is well loved. A couple of weeks go by and you see your gift cracked, but it was glued back together, but a few of the pieces were still missing. After a few months, you find your gift in the garbage, completely destroyed, it looks nothing like it did when you originally gifted it. How would you feel knowing you spent so much time curating this genuine gift for it to be destroyed?
To me, this is how I feel we have treated the Earth when God gifted it to us.
An argument that is brought up a lot with Christianity and the state of the Earth is referring to the second coming of Jesus. There are numerous passages of a New Heaven and New Earth coming so why protect the earth that we have now?
First, as a professing Christian, I know it is part of my responsibility as a disciple of Christ to take care of the Earth that we live in now. Although we know this is just a temporary home until we return to live with our Heavenly Father, He still mandates us to take care of it. Genesis 1:26, Genesis 1:28, and Genesis 2:15 all state how we are to take care of the earth because God gave it to us as a gift. Second, don’t you think the New Earth will still have the scars of what we have created? If Jesus’s resurrected body still bore the scars of what ultimately killed him, wouldn’t you think that the earth we killed, even when transformed into the New Earth, would also bear those scars?
From this silly little newsletter that a random college student is writing, I am asking each of you to take action. It can be simple like composting, recycling, or switching to reusable items instead of disposable ones, etc. You can it a step further by telling others why you are doing some of these more “environmentally-conscious” practices and blend it with your faith. Furthermore, you can reduce the amount of your own emissions of fossil fuels through the products you buy, transportation, and advocate for others to do the same and vote for policy changes.
Thank you for taking the time to read these newsletters. It seriously means so much to me, and I have no idea how to express that more. If you want to continue this conversation whether you are curious, have questions, or want argue with me, I would love to have a constructive conversation with you.
Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and think about adopting a New Year’s resolution that doesn’t just involve you, but humanity and creation as a whole.
Blessings,
Samantha Kothari
P.S. I’m not sure if I will continue writing about my various environmental experiences but if I do, you’ll still find them in your inbox:)
I'm not typically one for New Year's resolutions, but dang, this has me thinking. Good words!
Well said!