Australia takes ‘unusual’ role as 190 nations gather for COP31
Nearly 200 countries will spend the next 12 days discussing global progress on climate change at this year’s COP31 meeting. Here’s why they matter and everything else you need to know
READING LEVEL: ORANGE
Imagine a massive meeting in your schoolyard where representatives from every class came together to discuss how the school was performing in terms of keeping the playgrounds and classes clean, and what they could do to better to achieve their cleanliness goal.
That’s what nearly 200 countries will do this week at the 31st annual Conference of Parties (COP31), with Australia playing quite an important role.
Given the current state of climate change, with rising sea levels, heatwaves and natural disasters, action on climate change has never been more important, making this year’s conference an especially crucial* one.
WHAT IS COP31?
The COP is a huge United Nations climate conference that takes place annually. This year it is bringing together leaders from 190 countries to figure out how to protect our planet from the impacts of climate change.
Over 12 days of talks, held in Turkey’s Antalya, delegates* will discuss global progress, share big ideas, draft plans and resolutions*, and work out “how we can make sure countries are still working as hard as they can to reduce global emissions and address the problem of climate change, “ University of Queensland Professor of International Relations Matt MacDonald said.
“Climate change is a global problem. People all over the world contribute to the problem, people all over the world are exposed to the problem … countries need to work together to work out how to actually address the problem,” Prof McDonald said.
“This particular Conference of the Parties is known as an implementation* COP. So the focus here is less on countries outlining new commitments than it is on countries actually outlining how they’re trying to reach those commitments made in the past.”
Government representatives, academics, business leaders and other civil organisations, will talk about reducing greenhouse gas emissions, ensuring fair distribution of resources among all countries.
They will also discuss how rich countries can support poor countries in transitioning* away from fossil fuels*, and help them with the financial burdens of climate impacts.
The annual COPs began in 1992, under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), to manage climate change and implement the steps all the countries confirmed in the 2015 Paris Agreement.
The Paris Agreement was adopted* by 195 countries at COP21 more than a decade ago. Its aim is to hold the global warming temperatures to well below 2C and preferably below 1.5C, compared to pre-industrial levels. Pre-industrial levels mean the long-term global temperatures before about 1850-1900.
AUSTRALIA’S KEY ROLE
Australia will take a “never seen before” role this year as the President of Negotiations, shaping the agenda of the 12-day conference, guiding the progress of everyday meetings and writing the final drafts, Prof McDonald said.
This setup is quite unusual. In the past COPs, one country would usually volunteer to host the meeting two years in advance, and member nations all agree to approve the host.
But, this time around, both Australia and Turkey wanted to host COP31 and “neither wanted to back down at all on hosting,” Prof McDonald said.
“In the end, the concession* that was reached was that Turkey would be the physical host. So it’s being held in Antalya … but Australia would serve the role of President of Negotiations.”
There are four key points of focus for Australia in this role that include global transition to clean energy, boosting finance, investment, and the green economy, and also highlighting the priorities of Pacific nations.
WHY ARE COPS IMPORTANT?
These international meetings play quite an important role in global efforts to tackle* climate change, helping countries march toward the targets set out in the Paris Agreement.
Prof McDonald said the COPs also force countries to assume responsibility for their climate actions and take critical steps. The final wording of the closing agreement signed at the end of each conference has to be agreed by all participating countries.
They have 12 days to negotiate the terms and the wordings.
“That can be a really important function of these types of conferences, because all these countries get together and they have to be able to say we are doing everything we can to address this problem,” Prof McDonald said.
“If we didn’t do anything, if we didn’t have countries getting together to develop the Kyoto Protocol* and then the Paris Agreement through these COP meetings, then global temperature rise would look closer to 4C by the end of this century, whereas now it’s on track for about 2.6C.”
Besides encouraging investment in renewable energy, these meetings also serve as a knowledge-sharing hub for countries to share their creative ideas about how they have addressed a specific climate change problem.
For example, a country might share how they have tried reducing methane emissions* from agriculture. If it has succeeded, other countries may consider doing the same. And where it has failed, other countries may be well positioned to advise on alternatives methods to improve the result.
In other words, COPs are also about “getting a lot of experts together to talk about what could be the more effective or most effective way of addressing the problem,’ Prof McDonald said.
WHO WILL REPRESENT AUSTRALIA AT COP31?
Australia is sending a significantly larger delegation* to COP31 compared to the 494 Australians who participated in the previous conference.
The Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese will be there on the opening day, while Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen will take up the President of Negotiations role.
Multiple other delegations from local, state and federal government will also be attending alongside the two ministers.
A trio of senior leaders from the country’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) will also be attending the conference and organising two important events.
Professor McDonald will be attending as the Head of University of Queensland delegation alongside many other researchers and scientists from other Australian universities.
Queensland farmer, Sally Higgins will attend as Youth Climate Champion. Ms Higgins is working with young Aussies to help bring their voices to the table at the climate conference.
POLL
GLOSSARY
- crucial: very important or necessary
- delegates: people chosen to act or speak on behalf of a group or country at an official meeting
- resolution: a formal decision or plan agreed on by a group
- Implementation: taking actions, putting a decision or promise into action
- transitioning: changing from one state, system, or way of doing things to another, in this case from fossil fuels to renewable energy
- fossil fuels: energy sources like coal, oil, and gas made from ancient plants and animal fossils
- adopted: formally accepted or agreed to follow an agreement
- concession: something granted or given up in order to reach an agreement
- tackle: to deal with a difficult problem
- Kyoto protocol: an international climate agreement set up at an earlier COP meeting in 1997 to help reduce global emissions
- methane emissions: methane is a greenhouse gas produced by activities like farming that trap heat in the atmosphere
- delegations: groups of representatives who speak and negotiate on behalf of their organisations or countries
EXTRA READING
Why landslides lead to flash floods
World on watch for ‘Super El Nino’
QUICK QUIZ
- How long is the COP31 this year?
- Who is hosting this year’s conference?
- How many countries are attending?
- What is Australia’s role in COP31?
- Why are COPs important?
LISTEN TO THIS STORY
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Conduct a Class COP Conference
Your teacher will assign you to one of five countries to conduct your own mock COP conference in your classroom.
Each country will have a different priority that you have to argue for;
- Country A: Wants to reduce greenhouse gas emissions quickly.
- Country B: Relies heavily on fossil fuels for jobs and energy.
- Country C: Is experiencing rising sea levels and needs financial support.
- Country D: Has invested in renewable energy and wants to share its ideas.
- Country E: Wants all countries to contribute fairly.
In each country, your task is as follows;
- Each group discusses its country’s priorities.
- Groups prepare three proposals to address climate change.
- Hold a class conference where each country presents its ideas.
- Negotiate a shared agreement containing at least three actions.
- Vote on the final agreement.
How hard is it to get your point across and fight for your priorities?
Were you happy with the proposals in the final vote?
Time: allow 45 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum links: English, Science, Civics and Citizenship, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking.
2. Extension
The article explains that wealthier countries may help poorer countries with the financial costs of climate impacts and transitioning away from fossil fuels.
If two countries are experiencing the effects of climate change. Country A has plenty of money and technology to respond. Country B has fewer resources and is struggling to protect its communities;
- Should Country A help Country B? Why?
- What types of support could be provided?
- Should all countries have the same responsibilities?
- What does fairness mean when dealing with a global problem?
Time: allow 15 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum links: English, Science, Civics and citizenship, Personal and social, Critical and Creative Thinking.
VCOP ACTIVITY
Down-level it
When you up-level a sentence, you do things to it to improve it: make it more interesting, or more complex.
But sometimes, when we read something it can be too complex and we don’t understand it very well. You ask someone to explain it to you, they do (in a simpler way) and you think, well why didn’t they just say that?
Go through the article and find a sentence or two that is complex, or hard to read.
Ask an adult what it means, or try and look some of the words up in the glossary.
Once you know what it means, see if you can re-write it in a simpler way- down-level it.
Make sure you don’t change the meaning of the sentence in any way though.