COP28

Centering Public Health at the UN Climate Talks

A pollution pod at COP28

Guest Contributor Meleana Chun-Moy reflects on COP28 and the growing recognition of the intersection between the climate crisis and human health.

The climate crisis is a public health crisis, and it finally seems global leaders have recognized that fact. With the backdrop of the first-ever Health Day at the annual UN climate conference, air quality in Dubai soared, as PM2.5 pollution reached 155 micrograms per cubic unit. The World Health Organization states the annual average concentrations …

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Food and Farming Makes the Menu at UN Climate Talks

Guest contributor Antonia Moure Richard of UCLA Law reports that regenerative agriculture was a big focus of COP28, but industrial farming was largely ignored.

At the United Nations climate conference known as COP28, it was easy to come to the realization that we must confront every aspect of the climate crisis, and we must do it right now. That includes transforming our food systems. Agriculture has historically been left out of the conversation at COP. That changed this year …

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The COP28 Halftime Report

COP28 facility

Has the annual UN climate conference grown too big to function? Takeaways from Week 1 of COP28 in Dubai.

We’ve reached the midpoint of the annual, two-week international climate conference known as COP (for “conference of parties”), so it’s a good time to reflect on what’s gone down in Dubai.  I’m attending along with a delegation of UCLA Law students and colleagues here to follow a range of issues, from methane regulation to China’s …

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U.S.-China Climate Deal Means Good Vibes for COP28

Pres Biden and Xi Jinping with flags behind them

Here are key takeaways from the Sunnylands Statement on Enhancing Cooperation to Address the Climate Crisis ahead of the UN climate talks in Dubai.

The chances for a productive COP28—the U.N. climate talks that get underway Nov. 30 in Dubai—got a big boost from the recent climate agreement between the U.S. and China, the world’s two biggest polluters.   Announced just before President Joe Biden and China leader Xi Jinping met at the APEC Summit in San Francisco, the …

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What to watch for, and ignore, at the upcoming climate talks in Dubai

Action at Madrid COP25

UCLA Law’s Mary Nichols, Alex Wang, and Ted Parson preview COP28 in a webinar this Wednesday.

Each year since 1995, the countries of the world have gathered to negotiate what to do about climate change. They do so under the auspices of the Framework Convention on Climate Change, the universally adopted climate change treaty that sets a goal of avoiding dangerous interference with the climate system. Those talks have had ups and …

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John Kerry’s China Visit was a Success (Sort of)

There was no big climate announcement. But that wasn’t really the purpose of the U.S. climate envoy visiting Beijing.

U.S. climate envoy John Kerry just wrapped up three days of talks with top Chinese officials in Beijing and doesn’t have a lot to show for it: There was no joint agreement or grand bargain. Chinese officials did not signal willingness to commit to a speedier timetable for cutting their greenhouse gas emissions or slowing …

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