all we need is less | COP28
Endless consumption 🤤 Sounds good? not really ❌ Our planet has limits and we are well beyond them.
Many important politicians are meeting in Dubai to discuss what their countries are doing to fight against climate change 👊 This meeting is COP28 but how effective is it really?
Would you like to know more? Get in touch!
Let's start with the basics 😇
The way we get materials, fuels, and food creates about half of all climate pollution. It also causes over 90% of biodiversity loss and water problems. 🌍 Our global consumption habits worry experts. In Europe, we use way more than what's okay for the planet - it's more than double the sustainable level! 📈💧🌿
And here's the tricky part: not everyone uses things the same way. The richest ones use A LOT - 72% of everything! How about the poorest 1.2 billion people? They only use about 1%. 🤯
It's a big problem we need to fix. ♻️💡
Our planet's resources are limited 🌍 😞 and we are already over that limit!
Then, what should we do?
Governments meeting at COP28 do not focus on the necessary solutions to tackle the climate crisis but rather on the symptoms.
Here is the simple truth: It is highly unlikely - if not impossible - to tackle the climate crisis and reduce our emissions while the economy continues growing.
The emissions we cause in the process of producing and consuming goods are too great to offset, and there is currently no technology that allows us to keep producing at these levels without overheating our planet.
We need to:
Go beyond growth: we need to investigate how we can grow without hurting the plant. Up to now, there’s a strong connection between how much our environment is affected and how much money a country produces (GDP). It’s hard to separate worldwide greenhouse gas emissions from the need for more money and growth.
Set clear goals to cut down what we use: to lower how much we consume in wealthier countries, we first have to understand and admit the limits of our planet. We should measure how our way of life affects the Earth and create rules to control this impact.
What is COP?
COP stands for Conference of the Parties and it is the annual meeting of all the countries which signed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) - a treaty from 1994.
The 28th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP28) will bring together member states representatives to Dubai to accelerate action towards the implementation of the Paris Agreement and the UNFCCC. COP meets every year to review and measure progress made towards the achievement of the objectives to limit climate change.
what can you do then? ➡️
Follow our COP28 delegates 🤩 we are bringing young people to Dubai. Who are they? What will they do at COP28? Follow their social media to get the latest updates:
- Daniele Taurino, Board Member of the European Youth Forum 👉 @danieletaurino
- Lara Schade from Generation Climate Europe 👉 @lara.bnna
- Isabel Rutkowski from MJARC Europe 👉 @bellachen_3
- Elena Alexandra Miron from the Youth Council of Romania 👉 @ellenasparadise
- Julia Fedlmeier from the European Youth Press 👉 @juliatheresaf
- Rota Lāce from the National Youth Council of Latvia 👉 @ljp_lv
Related articles & publications
Reaction to the EU 2040 climate target from European youth networks
Youth organisations welcome the commitment of the European Commission to an
increased ambition in putting forward the reduction target of 90% by 2040. However,
concerns arise regarding the level of target’s ambition, heavy reliance on technology to
achieve this target and ignoring the importance of addressing resource overconsumption.
#COP28: Time for a new climate narrative 🌍✨
As everyone tunes into COP28, it's not just another climate summit—it's our moment to shift the conversation and focus on issues that are usually left in the shadows. While we talk a lot about decarbonisation and green economies, there's a key part we’re missing from the puzzle: our consumption habits.
Response to European Commission repeats call for a post-growth Europe
A coalition of international NGOs and academics respond to the European Commission with a fresh case for a post-growth Europe to realise a dignified life for all within planetary boundaries.