Week 1 Conclusion

 By now, I am back in Bethlehem, but I wanted to create a follow-up blog post to reflect on the rest of my experience during the first week of COP28 in Dubai! The past week included tons of pin collecting at several pavilions, sightseeing across the city, and events where important discussions were taking place.

Most notably, there were two particular COP28 side events that I enjoyed. The first side event, titled "Buildings and Construction for Sustainable Cities: New Key Partnerships for Decarbonisation, Adaptation and Resilience," began by noting that every country tends to have regulations in place for building fires and other emergencies. Why, though, doesn't every country have net-zero and climate-friendly building regulations? Sustainable construction needs to begin with renovating and repurposing, rather than rebuilding. Moreover, there must be a greater shift to green building materials and an emphasis on passive cooling rather than using electric cooling methods. To the finance community that remains skeptical about transitioning to green building materials and repurposing projects, green materials enhance the longevity of a building, and repurposing projects produce 9-30 jobs per project and the industry represents 70% of global employment. While I was at COP28, Ghana signed on as the 28th country to join the initiative known as Buildings Breakthrough, which aims to ensure that "worldwide near-zero emission and resilient buildings are the new normal by 2030." In the United States, electricity-based heating is out-pacing fossil-based heating in new building constructions for the first time. It is claimed that a fully effective transition in the US needs to be people-based.

Another interesting side event that I attended was on green chemistry. This was the first time I had heard about green chemistry, which was defined as "the design of chemical product and processes to reduce or eliminate the use of and generation of hazardous substances." More than 40 countries have active green chemistry networks such as the ACS Green Chemistry Institute and the Green Chemistry Network. The reason why green chemistry is so valuable is because it aligns environmental and economic values. It was noted in the presentation that one challenge for green chemistry involves changing the energy basis of economies. This is a problem because while scientists may know how to solve this challenge, the general public needs to learn the potential of green chemistry. This is where the Yale Center on Climate Change and Health comes in with the goals of advancing the science, catalyzing implementation, preparing the next generation, and raising awareness. Products produced by Air Company serve as interesting innovations due to green chemistry. For example, the company produces the world's carbon-negative vodka, known as AIR Vodka. All Air Company products aim to generate imagination of what is possible in terms of carbon-negative products. Furthermore, if the Air Company process was adopted by all industries worldwide, more than 10% of emissions would be reduced.

While much of our time was dedicated to COP during the day, we did get the opportunity to go sightseeing and visit some popular Dubai attractions and landmarks. One day, we got to visit Marina Beach, where we swam in the Persian Gulf with views of the Ain Dubai (Dubai Eye) in the distance. Another day, we visited the Dubai Mall and got to view the Burj Khalifa at night from along the Dubai Fountain. Additionally, we ate at a variety of restaurants throughout our stay, ranging from Russian to Georgian, and Mexican to authentic Emirati cuisines. Oftentimes, the food within COP28 at Expo City did not compare to food found elsewhere throughout Dubai, however, it was mutually agreed upon that we hadn't had one bad meal during our trip.

On the final day, we left the Airbnb by 9:30PM and boarded the Dubai Metro for the airport since our flight was scheduled to depart at around 2AM. Many of our housemates had yet to arrive for the night when we left, so it was difficult to say goodbye to many people. It is most likely that they were enjoying a night out ahead of the upcoming day of rest scheduled for December 7th.

It was a bittersweet feeling to leave Dubai and COP28, but I was ready to return home and see my family. My experience at COP28 has been something that I wouldn't change for the world. I feel as though I have learned so much relevant information to my field of study, and I feel very appreciative to be one of four Moravian students who got the opportunity to attend. I hope those who are remaining at COP28 for the second week, as well as those who are just now starting their COP28 journey, finish the week with similar feelings!