Journal of Science Policy & Governance
​Volume 20, Issue 01 | March 28, 2022

Op-Ed: How UNFCCC's COP Can Achieve Carbon Neutrality

Natasha Dacic (1), Alexa B. White (2), Ranveer S. Ajimal (3), Katelyn M. Boisvert (4,5), Lunia E. Oriol (1), Sivah Akash (4)
  1. University of Michigan, Department of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering, Ann Arbor, MI
  2. University of Michigan, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Ann Arbor, MI
  3. University of Michigan, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, Ann Arbor, MI
  4. University of Michigan, School for Environment and Sustainability, Ann Arbor, MI
  5. University of Michigan, Ross School of Business, Ann Arbor​
Corresponding author: ndacic@umich.edu
Keywords: carbon neutrality; climate change; hybrid conferences; carbon offsets; UNFCCC; COP; greenhouse gas emissions
https://doi.org/10.38126/JSPG200102

Executive Summary

International conferences such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change's (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties (COP) attract over 25,000 attendees from around the world and have an alarming carbon footprint. Carbon neutral events have increased in popularity, and help to curb large amounts of emissions and slow climate change. We discuss techniques to reduce carbon emissions without settling for offsets from an individual and conference scale. The UNFCCC COP can reduce its overall emissions significantly by implementing a hybrid conference model and more sustainable conference choices. COP can lead the way in establishing a sustainable model to advance the climate agenda without exacerbating the global climate crisis.​

-Read the full article through download.-

Background header image courtesy of Katelyn Boisvert
Climate Blue is the University of Michigan’s student organization that educates and empowers its members and surrounding community about climate change science, its impacts, and climate policy (both domestic and international). It’s 2020-2021 Research Task Force members are:

Natasha Dacic is a Ph.D. candidate in the Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering Department. Her research focuses on urban and agricultural greenhouse gas emissions.

Alexa B. White is a Ph.D. candidate in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department. Her research focuses on how agroecology can resolve the future of world hunger as it relates to international climate policy, specifically UN Sustainable Development Goal 2.

Ranveer S. Ajimal is an undergraduate biochemistry research assistant in the Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology department.

Katelyn M. Boisvert is a dual Masters student completing a M.S. from the School for Environment and Sustainability and a M.M. from the Ross School of Business.

Lunia E. Oriol is an undergraduate student in the Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering Department. Her research focuses on atmospheric modeling and atmosphere-biosphere interactions.

​Sivah Akash graduated in 2021 with a M.S. from the School for Environment and Sustainability. His Master’s project involved determining the transportation emissions baseline for a group of buildings in Ann Arbor, MI.

Acknowledgements 
We thank Khang Huynh and Ethan FitzGerald for their insightful edits and feedback during the review period. We thank Dr. Avik Basu and Dr. Richard Rood at the University of Michigan for their helpful comments on this manuscript.

References

  1. Adam, Karla, and Sammy Westfall. 2021. “Hungry in Glasgow? the COP26 Menu Comes Carbon Counted.” The Washington Post. WP Company, November 6, 2021.
  2. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/11/06/cop26-menu-food-carbon-footprint/. 
  3. Andrijevic, Marina, Jesus Crespo Cuaresma, Tabea Lissner, Adelle Thomas, and Carl-Friedrich Schleussner. 2020. “Overcoming Gender Inequality for Climate Resilient Development.” Nature Communications 11, no. 1. 
  4. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-19856-w.
  5. Earth Negotiations Bulletin. 2021. “Glasgow Climate Change Conference: 31 October – 13 November 2021.” Earth Negotiations Bulletin 12, no. 793. https://enb.iisd.org/Glasgow-Climate-Change-Conference-COP26-summary. 
  6. Faber, Grant. 2021. “A Framework to Estimate Emissions from Virtual Conferences.” International Journal of Environmental Studies 78, no. 4: 608–23. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207233.2020.1864190. 
  7. Fieschi, Maurizio, and Ugo Pretato. 2018. “Role of Compostable Tableware in Food Service and Waste Management. A Life Cycle Assessment Study.” Waste Management 73: 14–25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2017.11.036. 
  8. Hawken, Paul. 2017. Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming. New York: Penguin Books. 
  9. Hjerpe, Mattias and Linner, Bjorn-Ola. 2011. “Functions of COP Side-Events in Climate-Change Governance.” Climate Policy 10, no. 2: 167-180. https://doi.org/10.3763/cpol.2008.0617. 
  10. International Transport Forum. 2021. “Decarbonising Transport Initiative.” 
  11. https://www.itf-oecd.org/decarbonising-transport.  
  12. International Transport Forum. 2020. “Transport at COP25.” International Transport Forum / OECD 2021. August 27, 2020. https://www.itf-oecd.org/transport-cop25.
  13. Klöwer, Milan, Debbie Hopkins, Myles Allen, and James Higham. 2020. “An Analysis of Ways to Decarbonize Conference Travel after Covid-19.” Nature 583, no. 7816: 356–59. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-020-02057-2. 
  14. Levy. 2021. “COP26 Strategy.” A Recipe for Change. 
  15. https://www.arecipeforchange.co.uk/cop26strategy.
  16. Lombrana, Laura Millan, and Deena Shanker. 2019. “‘It’s an Irony’: At Climate Forum, Vegan Food Options Scarce.” Climate Changed. Bloomberg, December 13, 2019. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/article/2019-12-13/-it-s-an-irony-at-climate-forum-there-s-one-vegan-food-truck. 
  17. McLaughlin, Martyn. 2021. “Revealed: 'Shocking' Carbon Footprint of COP26 Venues.” The Scotsman, September 5, 2021. https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/revealed-shocking-carbon-footprint-of-cop26-venues-3370907. 
  18. Neugebauer, Sabrina, Maren Bolz, Rose Mankaa, and  Marzia Traverso. 2020. “How Sustainable Are Sustainability Conferences? – Comprehensive Life Cycle Assessment of an International Conference Series in Europe.” Journal of Cleaner Production 242: 118516. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.118516. 
  19. News European Parliament. 2019. “What Is Carbon Neutrality and How Can It Be Achieved by 2050?” Last modified June 24, 2021.
  20. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/headlines/society/20190926STO62270/what-is-carbon-neutrality-and-how-can-it-be-achieved-by-2050.
  21. O'Brien, William, and Fereshteh Yazdani Aliabadi. 2020. “Does Telecommuting Save Energy? A Critical Review of Quantitative Studies and Their Research Methods.” Energy and Buildings 225: 110298. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2020.110298. 
  22. Ong, Dennis, Tim Moors, and Vijay Sivaraman. 2014. “Comparison of the Energy, Carbon and Time Costs of Videoconferencing and in-Person Meetings.” Computer Communications 50: 86–94. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.comcom.2014.02.009. 
  23. Poore, J., and T. Nemecek. 2018. “Reducing Food’s Environmental Impacts through Producers and Consumers.” Science 360, no. 6392: 987–92. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaq0216. 
  24. Ritchie, Hannah.  2020. “You Want to Reduce the Carbon Footprint of Your Food? Focus on What You Eat, Not Whether Your Food Is Local.” Our World in Data. Last revised January 24, 2020. https://ourworldindata.org/food-choice-vs-eating-local.
  25. Ritchie, Hannah. 2021. “Emissions from Food Alone Could Use up All of Our Budget for 1.5°C or 2°C – but We Have a Range of Opportunities to Avoid This.” Our World in Data. Last revised June 10, 2021. https://ourworldindata.org/food-emissions-carbon-budget.
  26. Sarabipour, Sarvenaz. 2020. “Virtual Conferences Raise Standards for Accessibility and Interactions.” eLife 9.
  27. https://doi.org/10.7554/elife.62668. 
  28. Schroeder, Heike & Lovell, Heather.  2012. “The Role of Non-Nation-State Actors and Side Events in the International Climate Negotiations.” Climate Policy, 12, no. 1: 23-37.
  29. https://doi.org/10.1080/14693062.2011.579328. 
  30. Singer, Merrill. 2018. Climate Change and Social Inequality: The Health and Social Costs of Global Warming. London: Routledge.
  31. Teter, Jacob, Jacopo Tattini, and Apostolos Petropoulos. 2020. “Tracking Transport 2020.” IEA. International Energy Agency, May 1, 2020. https://www.iea.org/reports/tracking-transport-2020.
  32. The Secretariat. 2019. "Gender Composition.” United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/resource/CP2019_09E.pdf.
  33. Transport Matters. 2015. “Why Transportation Is Critical at the Paris Climate Summit.” Institute for Transportation and Development Policy, November 25, 2015.
  34. https://www.itdp.org/2015/11/25/why-transportation-is-critical-at-the-paris-climate-summit/. 
  35. United Nations Climate Change. 2017. “Accommodation and Transport.” United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
  36. https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/conferences/un-climate-change-conference-november-2017/venue-and-participation/accommodation-and-transport. 
  37. United Nations Climate Change. 2018. “Moving Low Carbon Transportation Forward at COP24.”
  38. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, November 27, 2018. https://unfccc.int/news/moving-low-carbon-transportation-forward-at-cop24.
  39. United Nations Climate Change. 2021. “COP26 Carbon 
  40. Management Plan Executive Summary.” 
  41. https://ukcop26.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Executive-summary-of-our-Carbon-Management-Plan.docx.pdf?referringSource=articleShare. 
  42. United Nations Climate Change. n.d. “Side Events and 
  43. Exhibits.” United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. https://seors.unfccc.int/seors/reports/archive.html.
  44. Williams, Ollie A. 2021. “118 Private Jets Take Leaders to COP26 Climate Summit Burning over 1,000 Tons of CO2.” Forbes, November 5, 2021. https://www.forbes.com/sites/oliverwilliams1/2021/11/05/118-private-jets-take-leaders-to-cop26-climate-summit-burning-over-1000-tons-of-co2/?sh=2bdef86d53d9.
  45. Wu, Juncheng, Anushka Rajesh, Yu-Ning Huang, Karishma Chhugani, Rajesh Acharya, Kerui Peng, Ruth D. Johnson, et al. 2021. “Virtual Meetings Promise to Eliminate Geographical and Administrative Barriers and Increase Accessibility, Diversity and Inclusivity.” Nature Biotechnology 40: 133–137. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41587-021-01176-z.
DISCLAIMER: The findings and conclusions published herein are solely attributed to the author and not necessarily endorsed or adopted by the Journal of Science Policy and Governance. Articles are distributed in compliance with copyright and trademark agreements.

ISSN 2372-2193
© 2022 Journal of Science Policy & Governance, Inc. All rights reserved. The opinions, findings and conclusions from JSPG publications, additional article commentaries and related events do not necessarily reflect the views of the journal.