Looking ahead to COP28 with J. Drake Hamilton

The 2023 U.N. Climate Conference, also known as COP, will be held in the United Arab Emirates from November 30 through December 12. J. Drake Hamilton, senior director, science policy at Fresh Energy, will be one of the more than 70,000 participants from around the globe to attend. Get the scoop from J. on some of the big discussions that will be happening at the event, a presentation hosted by Fresh Energy, and why this year is anticipated to be the most impactful COP since Paris.

Stay up to date from J. when she's at COP28 at fresh-energy.org/COP28.

Listeners can stay up to date on Fresh Energy's work via our once-monthly email list, blog at www.fresh-energy.org, or by following us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter. You can support Fresh Energy’s work for a clean energy Minnesota by making a donation today!

Thank you to the band Palms Psalm for providing our theme song, "DGAF" off of their album Otuhaka. Get the latest from the band at palmspsalm.com.

Transcript

Jo Olson: [00:00:11] Hello and welcome to Decarbonize the Clean Energy Podcast from Fresh Energy. Fresh Energy is a Minnesota nonprofit working to speed our state's transition to a clean energy economy. My name is Jo Olsen. I'm the lead director of communications and engagement at Fresh Energy, and I'm here today to share a recording of our recent webinar that I did with my colleague J. Drake Hamilton. She's Fresh Energy's senior director of science policy, and she will be heading to Cop 28 really soon. Cop 28 is the UN Climate Change conference, and J took about 45 minutes to give us the scoop on what she's expecting and why this will probably be the most impactful COP since Paris. And if you are a faithful decarbonized listener, you probably realize that we finally got some intro music. It's new and different, right? Thank you to the band Palms Psalms for providing our theme song. It's called D.G.A.F. and it's off of their album Otuhaka. Get the latest from the band at Palms psalm.com and I will put that in the podcast description with a link. All right, let's jump into the recording. Welcome and thank you to everyone for joining us. This is part one of Fresh Energy's two-part webinar series about Cop 28. For those of you meeting Fresh Energy for the first time, we are a Minnesota-based nonprofit working toward a vision of a just, prosperous, and resilient future powered by a shared commitment to a carbon-neutral economy.
 
Jo Olson: [00:01:57] Um, I'm gonna do a little bit of housekeeping here, too. If you have questions, you can put them in the chat. But Zoom also has this really great Q&A feature. So you can click on the Q&A button. It should be at the bottom of your screen and you can type in your questions there. Your other participants can upvote a question if they like it, and we'll kind of rise to the top of the list. We'll get to questions at. I think about the end of the webinar is what we're aiming for. My name is Jo Olsen. I'm the lead director of communications and engagement at Fresh Energy, and I am joined by my colleague, J. Drake Hamilton. J. is the senior director of science policy at Fresh Energy and has been to quite a few COPs. So I think we're going to dig into that in a little bit here. I don't want to, like, completely spoil the big reveal, but can you refresh our memory about how many COPs you've been to and about maybe COP 27 last year, which was in Egypt, if I'm remember correctly? Is that right?
 
J. Drake Hamilton: [00:03:07] This year will be my eighth COP, and I'll explain later what that is. Um, but last year at COP 27, we were in Egypt and it was year two of laying the path for the big deal this year, which is that the world's nations must inventory the world's actions that have been announced. How many emissions are we producing and does this meet the Paris Agreement agreed to in 2015? The inventory, it turns out, is way off base and emissions must be cut drastically at Cop 28. The really good news is that last year, the world's nations, after 30 years of trying, agreed to operationalize a loss and damage fund for the most vulnerable in the world. And this has been called a shining achievement of last year's climate talks. I'll talk about this in detail, but here's big news. Just this week. Just this week, there was an update on an agreement that our lead negotiator, John Kerry, established with China in Scotland at Cop 26. They agreed that China would make a methane pledge outlining steps to cut their methane emissions. And they have now produced this plan. So this is a really positive signal going into Cop 28.
 
Jo Olson: [00:04:53] Absolutely. J. hadn't heard that yet, so thanks for sharing. Um, well, it does sound like this year is going to be different from last year and the years before, but guess they're all kind of unique and have their own flavor. But I wonder, can you set the scene for COP 28? When is it you're getting on a plane here? Pretty soon. Where is it? Who's hosting it? Who will be there? All the kind of nuts and bolts of of those details.
 
J. Drake Hamilton: [00:05:20] Yeah. On your screen are three of the people that I'll be listening most closely to. On the right is Antonio Gutierrez. He's the secretary general of the United Nations, and on the left is the lead negotiator for the United States, John Kerry. And with him is the former US Environmental Protection Agency administrator, Gina McCarthy. And she'll be at the session that I'm doing. Now. I will be heading to Dubai on Thanksgiving Day. And I'll be at the World Climate Summit from November 30th through December 12th. Cop 28 is the 28th meeting of the conference of the parties. The parties are just the signers of the 1992 Rio Treaty on Climate Change. This year, it's being held in the United Arab Emirates or UAE, and in the city of Dubai, specifically in the Expo city, which is known as, quote, a human centric city of the future. People I know who've been there tell me we will absolutely be wowed. It's like no place anyone has ever been before and it's connected. This city of the future is connected everywhere else in Dubai via an extensive and very good metro system, so I'll be on that a lot. Cop 28 begins with December 1st and two, when the world leaders come to the stage, including President Biden, and important leaders like Pope Francis will be there, and the meeting will be convened by the UK's King Philip for the very first time. The president of Cop 28 is a local emirate. He is Sultan Ahmad Al Jabar of the United Arab Emirates, and he will steer the UN's annual global climate summit. We expect 199 nations, or maybe just 198 nations will be there and perhaps 80,000 registrants will be there, which is up from last year's 26,000 people from 195 countries. Most of the people there will be observers. Fresh energy will be there as observers. The most important are the parties, the diplomatic delegations from the nations who've actually signed on to the treaty. Also very important, many people from UN agencies, from the media and world leaders and many UN officials will also be there.
 
Jo Olson: [00:08:29] Well. And so, J., I know you have like this amazing track record of presenting at COP and think, well, I know actually we have confirmation that you're going to be on the stage again this year. Can you share with the group any of the logistical details that you might have? I think we have. The next slide is focused on some of that, but we'd like to hear it from you too.
 
J. Drake Hamilton: [00:08:52] Yes, we will be at a wonderful pavilion called the America is All In. Pavilion says what it is. We'll be presenting the Minnesota Story, which is essentially why Minnesota is going to do so amazingly well on spending federal money from the Inflation Reduction Act and from the roughly 46 Minnesota laws that were passed by the Minnesota Legislature in the spring of 2023. The actual title is I love this super charging climate change mitigation and adaptation. The Minnesota model. Our main audience are the other 49 US states and all of the other countries. Because what we'll be saying to them is thanks to the leadership from President Biden and from actions at the US Congress and at the Minnesota Legislature. Minnesota has the biggest momentum in all of the United States now on climate action. The speakers are here. I'll be speaking. We'll be hearing about local actions from the mayor of Burnsville, Elizabeth Coutts, and we'll be hearing from a businessman, a vice president, Scott Chu from Trane Technologies. And if you don't know Tech Trane, you should, because they employ 1000 people in Minnesota and they are launching a gigaton challenge. That's gigatons is how much carbon dioxide they're going to save their customers every year. And the final speaker will be Patrick Hamilton, who's with the Science Museum of Minnesota. We'll also be joined by video technology by the speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives, Melissa Hortman. And she'll be talking about how we accomplish this in Minnesota. So we'll be on the global stage on Monday, December 4th, from 1 to 2 p.m. local time. But keep in mind that Dubai is about ten hours ahead of of the Midwest. So we'll be recording this and the recording will be available on YouTube and you can sign up for that to.
 
Jo Olson: [00:11:28] Perfect. Thank you so much, J. I just want to remind people that if you have questions during the presentation, you can put them into the chat or the Q&A. We have a time set aside at the end to dig into questions and quiz J. on some things that she thinks is coming up, but let's keep the conversation moving. So, J., there are always just like so many simultaneous discussions that are happening at Cop every single year. So what are you what do you think and what do you know are the big discussion points that are going to be covered in 2023?
 
J. Drake Hamilton: [00:12:07] Yes, and there are four of them. The most important agenda item is cutting emissions. That's what I was referring to earlier about the inventory. The name that's used by the UN is Global stocktake. It's like taking stock, but it's one word stocktake. This process is written into the Paris Agreement. 2023 will be the first ever stocktake since the Paris Agreement was signed in 2015. They will then recur every five years after 2023. The shorthand for the stocktake is GST global stocktake. It is a flagship deliverable for the agreement that is called the Paris Agreement, and all signature countries must contribute to it. It is about taking stock of the lessons learned since Paris. The science is absolutely clear. It says parties or countries look forward at opportunities to fill the gaps in emissions reductions. You should be ratcheting up what you're doing, or else by 2030 there would be a significant ambition gap. And we are not on track to where the world needs to be. So I will be in this room. It's a very elongated room that holds a thousand people. People from 200 countries. I'll be way in the back, but I will be taking notes and I will be sending them out to you. This is the world's pivotal opportunity to correct our course and accelerate global climate action. It's like taking an inventory. The stocktake is a critical turning point in our battle against escalating climate crisis. It's a moment to take a long, hard look at the state of our planet, the Earth, and chart a better course for the future.
 
J. Drake Hamilton: [00:14:22] It is scheduled to conclude by the end of Cop 28. That means evaluating the world's progress on commitments to slash greenhouse gas emissions, building resistance to climate impacts, and securing finance and support to address the climate actions. It is being built on over 1600 documents. So much work has gone into this for the last five years. Emissions must peak at 2025 at the latest. That's what science says. Countries should update their climate actions and support. States. Nations must fully adopt new Nationally Determined contributions by 2025. That means that every nation's climate plans must be working at full strength by two years from now. Cop 30, the latest science, makes it very clear that our current trajectory is not in line with limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees C. Urgent action is needed. We must reduce emissions by some 43% by 2030, and we must achieve near zero emissions by mid-century. As we approach Cop28 in the United Arab Emirates, the global stocktake will reveal that our current efforts are totally insufficient. The global stocktake is an opportunity for us to course correct. Nations must respond with ambitious new climate commitments by 2030. And the UN is saying to parties and observers, quote, we need your collaboration, dedication and innovative solutions. The United Nations secretary general, Antonio Guterres, aims to fast forward countries climate efforts. Guterres is calling on the developed nations, the rich nations, to fast track their net zero emissions targets, fast track them by ten years to achieve them by 2040.
 
J. Drake Hamilton: [00:16:58] Developing countries the poorer countries should strive for doing this by 2050. Leaders must outline their plans for phasing out fossil fuel use. Secretary Guterres urges the rich nations to deliver and then increase the money they've pledged to help developing nations transition their energy systems and respond to the impacts of a warming planet. Guterres calls out the fossil fuel producers for lies and declares that, quote unquote, climate breakdown has begun after scientists announced that global temperatures this summer exceeded all previous written records. July 2023, for example, was the hottest month ever on record. Simon Steele, who leads the United Nations Climate Change Office, as well as Sultan Al-Jaber, who is going to be the president of Cop, issued a joint statement calling on the nations to send a clear signal at Cop 28 towards stronger climate action. The United Nations welcomes efforts and calls on all nations to get this triple the capacity deployment of renewable and clean energy, triple it by 2030, and to support doubling the rate of energy efficiency improvements. So efficiency from 2.2% efficiency now to over 4% every year by 2030. Now I want to say a few words about the importance of President of Cop. Sultan Al-jabbar. He is serious and as stressed, we are nowhere close to where we need to be. He will remind people that the way the UN works is through consensus.
 
J. Drake Hamilton: [00:19:17] And I remind you of that to every country who is a signer to the treaty. From 1992, including the Petro states like UAE has to concur with the consensus. So there's no getting around Petro states. This is the most important COP since 2015, in Paris. President algebra calls climate change a threat that must be addressed by everyone. Algebra has stirred controversy for his dual roles as serving as the Cop 28 president, while he is also the CEO of the UAE's state owned oil company. However, he has recently and often said that a phase down of fossil fuels is inevitable and he is constantly pushing to triple global renewable energy capacity by 2030, which is exactly what the secretary general of the UN is calling for. Observers like Fresh Energy and the many others have to be aware that it is no longer enough for our country and others to make strong climate commitments. They are now expected to take action on these commitments. Mr. Al-jabbar pointed to the Emirates as a model for speeding up the clean energy transition. The UAE wants to make sure they remain an energy powerhouse. But fossil fuels are finite and they know it. President Sultan Al Al-Jaber has said it was essential for the Loss and Damage Committee to come up with a set of recommendations in early November in ahead of Cop 28, and they have come up with these recommendations.
 
J. Drake Hamilton: [00:21:23] They held an extra meeting last weekend for two days and they came up. All the countries came up with an agreement, and that document is now circulating among those designations, and we'll hear more from it at Cop. The second priority is scaling up climate finance. In 2009, countries promised at the Cop. Of. Of providing $100 billion a year from developing nations. That was due to be in place starting in 2020, but it has never yet been met. Rich nations have not yet lived up to their promises on international climate aid. Countries need between 215 billion and 387 billion a year this decade, to help them prepare for the increasingly severe impacts of global warming. We need to reorient trillions of dollars in global finance. Wealthy nations must meet their $100 billion annual climate finance commitment this year, and they must make up for the shortfalls since 2020 and increase that goal at Cop 23. Third. How is the UN going to bring the Loss and Damage fund into operation, as committed to in Sharm el-Sheikh in 2022? All countries agreed to establish a loss and damage fund to compensate developing nations for damaging climate impacts when the most vulnerable places are less developed countries and small island developing states. The cost of loss and damage reached more than $500 billion over the last two decades in those most climate vulnerable countries. That has prompted the UN secretary general Gutierrez. He has asked governments to tax the windfall profits of fossil fuel companies and direct some of the proceeds to people already suffering loss and damage.
 
J. Drake Hamilton: [00:23:58] He said, quote, fossil fuel barons and their enablers have helped create this mess. They must support those suffering as a result. Very basic questions still remain. The parties face thorny questions around flushing out the loss and damage docket of filling the fund with money. This is largely the rich, developed countries who need to deliver the money versus the developing countries who need it. So one who funds the programme, who pays for the damages that were done, developing countries whose needs could easily reach trillions of dollars, have proposed an initial commitment of $100 billion per year by 2030. Wealthy nations have been reluctant to include in the document that they will contribute, and that there will be regular replenishments of this money that needs to be worked out. By December. Early December. What institution will oversee the loss and damage fund? The world Bank has volunteered to do this. But are they the right organization? Rich countries dominate as the World Bank's shareholders. That will be discussed and has to be fleshed out. Which countries get the funds? That's a big, big question too. The final big question is what about the kinds of damage that resist quantification, like loss of human life, loss of territory, loss of indigenous knowledge, and loss of biodiversity? These are all big deal things that must be worked out at Cop 28.
 
Jo Olson: [00:26:03] Wow. Thank you J.. There's just so much, so much that is going to come out of Cop this year. And I know if you're ready I think we've got a few questions. But first I'm going to go back into my my housekeeping mode. Just share a few announcements. So first give to the Max day is coming up. If you live in Minnesota you probably know and love. Give to the Max day. It's on November 16th this year, but you can schedule a donation today. So think about fresh energy and give to the max day or before, and then reminder that this is part one of a two part webinar series. The next webinar is December 15th. I think it's in the morning on the 15th, so I hope you can join us for that. If you registered for this webinar, you're automatically going to get reminders for that one. And then finally, I know some people emailed me before we were recording today that to ask where they could listen to or view this webinar after the fact. And we are recording, so we'll be posting it up on Fresh Energy's YouTube channel as well as on the podcast later today. And then we'll send out an email to you all who are with us today, and those who registered with the links to those recordings either this afternoon or tomorrow morning. So stay tuned for that. And Jo.
 
J. Drake Hamilton: [00:27:28] Can I give people a really new update just from today?
 
Jo Olson: [00:27:31] Oh my gosh, yes, we'd love that. Please do.
 
J. Drake Hamilton: [00:27:33] Yes, this is also good news on climate action in Michigan. The Michigan Legislature has now passed a 100% carbon free by 2040 bill, and it will is expected to be signed into law by Governor Gretchen Whitmer shortly. So this may ring a bell with you, because that was the first one powerful climate bill that passed the Minnesota Legislature on February 7th, 2023. That's why Minnesota was selected to appear on the global stage at Cop 28. And now we're really glad to be going to Cop 28. We hope Governor Gretchen Whitmer may be there, too.
 
Jo Olson: [00:28:25] Oh, how fun would that be?
 
J. Drake Hamilton: [00:28:26] Because then we could both be speaking from the Midwest about the need for every other state to join us, and every nation in the world to join us in moving quickly to carbon free electricity. It's another good sign to go into Cop 28 with.
 
Jo Olson: [00:28:45] And it's great to have another cold weather state kind of being hand-in-hand with us.
 
J. Drake Hamilton: [00:28:50] Yeah. And I want to say what I say on the global stage every time I get to talk. There are four states in the country who are considered by many leaders in Congress and from people all over the world, four states in the Midwest that matter the most because they are typically purple states. They include Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin and Illinois. Here it is. They have come off the lips of everyone from President Biden to everyone who's working hard on climate action, because as people from all over the world have told me at the seven previous COPs I've been to, they learned that I'm from Minnesota and they want to drink coffee with me or have lunch with me. And what they say is, you know, J., it matters less what a very progressive state like California on the West Coast or even Massachusetts on the East Coast do on climate, because we all know that the US Congress takes action when states like Minnesota, Michigan, Illinois and Wisconsin take action. Because we are very diverse states. We're very big farming states, forestry states, agriculture states and manufacturing states. We use a lot of energy for transportation. So the votes in those states in a way matter more than others. That's why we're so delighted to have been selected for the global stage from Minnesota, because people in other states have told us, we want to hear how you made that happen, how you all made that happen in Minnesota. And we'll be doing perfect.
 
Jo Olson: [00:30:49] Thank you. J.. And, um, gosh, you know, before before we logged in and started this webinar, I said to J. O. J., I think I'm a little rusty at some of the zoom features. And J. said. Oh, no, you'll be fine. And I kind of was. But Dale just let me know that I like. The chat was on, but the Q&A wasn't on, so questions are still coming in like I have them, but the Q&A is officially turned on again. So if anyone had a burning question, um, go ahead and pop it in there. But I do want to start with how about this question from James J. If you're ready for it. So James asks, is there momentum to reduce and eliminate the oil and gas subsidies and instead put this money toward clean energy or perhaps carbon capture?
 
J. Drake Hamilton: [00:31:41] Yes, there is a very highly disproportionate amount of money that goes to oil, coal and gas subsidies, fossil fuel subsidies. So many people are talking about that all over the United States, all over Minnesota and all over the world. So so this will be part of the decisions being made by every party. To the climate pact. Got it. And this means the way the UN works is every nation that's a party has to make a nationally determined contribution to what they're doing. And they need to really ratchet that up this year. And. One option is for countries to back down the subsidies to oil and gas and coal. That would be a really good thing. I don't know what every country will decide to do, but many countries are looking at that very disproportionate amount of money that goes for fossil fuels still, and how that's a part of all of our problems.
 
Jo Olson: [00:33:00] Got it. Thank you. J.. Um, I wonder if you could tell us a little bit about being on the stage at at COP. So I know, like you said, there are thousands of people who attended. Obviously there aren't thousands of presentations. So there's some nuance to submitting a proposal for presentation and like, cultivating your speakers to be on the panel with you and, you know, putting together a compelling plan. Can you tell me a little bit about how long you've been working on this and how you made it happen?
 
Speaker3: [00:33:37] Well, what.
 
J. Drake Hamilton: [00:33:38] I would say is that United Arab Emirates in Dubai, there's going to be about twice as large a facility that we had in Egypt. So Dubai is really very blessed. And there's been a lot of investment in developing this very modern, um, set of pavilions where people can meet. So it's going to be about twice as large. Many people can rent a pavilion so they can host speaking presentations there. That's what happens. And what my role was, was to get us on a global stage to give this presentation about the Minnesota story. And I got the chance to do that. But it did take a number of months because you have to choose the right host. And we applied to the right host. They have a pavilion called America Is All in. So this is a great pavilion. And we'll have four speakers seated on the stage. And then each speaker will um, in sequential order, get up and talk. And then we'll allow at the end 20 minutes for Q&A. And this year the Q&A will come from our live audience and also from our virtual audience. So that'll be very exciting. And then the UN is going to record all of the presentation. So it does upgrade. Doesn't mean you have to get up in the middle of the night to watch a presentation, because we will send around that recording very shortly after December 4th, and you can share it with your friends.
 
Jo Olson: [00:35:33] It's so funny because we've struggled with the recordings in the past, so I'm glad that there's so much coordination behind that this year.
 
Speaker3: [00:35:41] Now, I don't.
 
J. Drake Hamilton: [00:35:42] Know how many people will really show up the host United Arab Emirates is estimating 80,000 people. Maybe they're just being very hopeful, but they know that they can accommodate that many people. And that makes me very secure because this will be a very safe COP. I will not need to drive a car in three weeks when I'm there, because they have a wonderful metro system and we'll all be given free tickets to the Metro. It's an excellent subway. And get this, it even has for people who want it separate subway cars just for children or just for women. And what I'm told is when women ask for a seat, no one will question them. They will get up and give up their seats. Men will give up their seats if a woman with a child needs a seat. Oh, so I think there are people will be very well. Bread good all over the world. Isn't that great?
 
Jo Olson: [00:36:47] Yeah. I mean, it sounds like a very different experience from last year. Um, we have a question from Debbie. So Debbie is asking, will there be talk about single use plastics and its connection to fossil fuels? I know that's maybe like a little more in the weeds type of discussion point, but what do you think?
 
J. Drake Hamilton: [00:37:11] Well, think about this place where all the presentations are going to be given. They're going to be thousands of presentations. Um, I don't know how many different pavilions there'll be, but I would be surprised if there weren't like, 300 of them. And so I think almost any topic you could dream up related to climate change is going to be on the agenda. Um, I'm going to be looking for. The big lever levers that I talked about, that I'm looking for the four items that we need some big action on, but I'll also be happening across a lot of other new topics. So I'm really interested in what people are going to be presenting on actually phasing out fossil fuels, and also all kinds of use of plastics, and how we can eliminate that as much as possible.
 
Jo Olson: [00:38:13] Excellent. Thank you. J.. Um, so I wonder another question that was submitted ahead of time. You talked a little bit about the people you were looking forward to seeing, but is there anyone else you want to mention? Like, I know, I'm sure there's like a whole element of like, who's going to be there where they're going to be to, to keep an eye on for this event. So anyone rising to the top for you besides John Kerry and you know, the other folks that you know, we know and love.
 
J. Drake Hamilton: [00:38:41] Yeah.
 
J. Drake Hamilton: [00:38:41] Well, as people know from previous years, this is now the fourth year in a row that I'm going to have an opportunity to meet with our lead, our lead negotiator, John Kerry. Again, what that means is he will construct a meeting of about an hour for about 12 people with himself. There will be a total of six negotiators from the US, and there will be six people from states that matter. As he says. And those states include Minnesota. So I'm lucky to be in that group, and I've always benefited from it because John Kerry is an excellent delegate and he's an excellent negotiator, and he has personally knows and is a close friend with the Chinese counterpart. So he will tell all kinds of stories. And then people from Minnesota will benefit. Because I always ask John Kerry what stories I cannot tell because I say to him, you know, I speak to about 50 large audiences every year. What stories do you not want me to talk about? And he's never. Never prevented me from talking about any of them, because John Kerry's interest is in teaching people about diplomacy and helping people learn about how this process works.
 
J. Drake Hamilton: [00:40:11] So I'll be helping that too. But I will also be looking for people I know because I've been to now eight. So I know a lot of people from every country in the world, and I'm looking forward to replenishing those friendships and figure out what those people are doing and what we have to learn from them all over the world. I'm especially having my eyes out for people I know from Kenya, because way back when I was in college, I spent four years, four months in Kenya. So I made a lot of friends there. And I notice that Kenya. I just learned this week. The president of the Government of Kenya has given Monday, Monday, November 13th off for everyone in Kenya and people are expected to help plant billions of trees starting that day. Isn't that cool? I want to learn more about how they made that happen. Because the truth is, not all solutions come from rich countries. They come from bubbling up from all over the world. And we all need to pay attention to what people are saying and learn much more. And I need to learn much more as well.
 
Jo Olson: [00:41:34] What a great event for exactly those types of things to come up. So final question I think that we have submitted right now is coming from Dale and Dale. So Dale wants to know what the big item number four was. So um, so I know remember the three, but can you maybe you could give us like the the quick crash crash course version of them?
 
J. Drake Hamilton: [00:41:58] The first one is who funds the program. The second is what institution oversees it. And I told you that the world Bank has volunteered, but not everyone agrees they're the right entity. The third one is which countries get the funds and how are they distributed? The fourth question is a little harder. What about the kinds of damage that resist quantification? That includes the loss of human lives, the loss of territory, the loss of indigenous knowledge, and the loss of biodiversity? Perfect. So there's a lot that's going to be talking about about loss and damage. But the real thing that's new since last year, after 30 years of trying by mostly less developed countries to get money set aside for them, those people who largely have not at all caused climate change, but are suffering most greatly from they need to be helped. And it's it's about 30 years too late, but not and that is why we're going to operationalize the loss and damage fund at at Cop 28.
 
Jo Olson: [00:43:20] Wonderful. Thank you J.. So I wonder we're kind of wrapping up here. Is there any like closing thought that you want to leave people with before we sign off? You've done an awful lot of talking. Like, I know you've shared a ton with us, and there's going to be so much more to come for the post COP webinar that we hold. But any thoughts you want to make sure get out there.
 
J. Drake Hamilton: [00:43:42] This is really a world event. Imagine having 200 countries of the world and as many as 80,000 people getting together over about 12 days to work out the answers to all of these questions. It's a very big docket, so you should turn into our Post Cop webinar, which I'll be doing on December 15th, to tell you what happened and to tell you more stories from it. The stories are fascinating. What I found every year I've been at one of these global summits is I meet many new people from many very diverse countries, from around the world, and they all have thoughtful, thought provoking and new solutions that I have never heard of. You can learn some of that from me and you can help educate yourself. What's really exciting is the US is very much on the radar screen. Because of the actions by US Congress, the United States has passed global warming laws that are the best ever passed anywhere in the world. So everyone is going to be looking at us, trying to find out how we're going to bring these to fruition. That's what we'll be talking about on December 4th.
 
Jo Olson: [00:45:18] Oh, and two I forgot to mention this earlier, but one of the fun things that we do with every single COP is we have like a running blog post that has daily updates from J. and she sends them at like, you know, 2 a.m. or our time 2 a.m. she sends them through with pictures and kind of what happened that day or big developments. So we have I haven't set up the page yet, but it will be up shortly. It's going to be fresh-energy.org/COP 28. I'll make sure that link is included in the email that we're sending out today or tomorrow morning with the recording, and that will be the best place to stay up to speed. I'll make sure it's included in powering progress at the end of the month, and then it'll just be on the website, always updated every day, starting at Cop or starting on your first day of COP. So maybe we'll get some details on how your flight went and and cool things like that. But with that, I think we're going to bring this webinar to a close. Thank you so much, everyone for being with us. And stay tuned for more. Have a great afternoon.
 
J. Drake Hamilton: [00:46:25] Thank you.
 
J. Drake Hamilton: [00:46:26] So much. Bye bye.
 
Jo Olson: [00:46:28] Thank you for tuning in to the audio recording of our webinar. You can stay up to date on Fresh Energy's work at Fresh Energy. Org or follow us on social media. Thank you to everyone who subscribes to our podcast, and you can support Fresh Energy's work by making a donation today. Again, head to that website Fresh Energy. Org and click donate in the upper right corner. And now our new closing theme music credit to Palm Psalms. Thanks for tuning in.