SilverLining Welcomes Progress at COP28, But Calls for More Ambitious Near-term Climate Action & Research On Climate Intervention

Wednesday, December 13, 2023 - A Global Stocktake has been finalized at COP28, which states that the world should transition away from fossil fuels towards clean energy to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. Milestone agreements were reached on: reducing methane emissions through the Methane Pledge, funding commitments for loss and damage, and emissions reductions measures and goals. SilverLining, a nonprofit dedicated to ensuring a safe near-term climate, welcomes this progress on emissions reduction, equity and resilience in areas of high importance to improving safety in the near-term, but recognizes that the world is not on track to achieve the 1.5C target required to best protect people and natural systems from catastrophic harm.  

As the world approaches dangerous thresholds for climate warming, SilverLining calls for expanding efforts to reduce methane and other powerful super-polluting gasses, concerted research on the potential for rapid climate interventions to enhance safety for people and natural systems and a $1 billion fund to provide equitable access to resources for climate impacts research in developing countries to address a critical north-south gap in climate decision-making and capacity for response.

Kelly Wanser, Executive Director of SilverLining issued the following statement:

“The world benefits from the progress made at this year’s climate summit, including incredibly important commitments to reduce the super-polluting greenhouse gases that create the most warming in the near-term, and commitments for Loss and Damage funds for developing countries to help adapt to the impacts of warming that they did not cause. But to hold climate change to safe levels, enormous work remains. Escalating disaster risks from near-term warming are shared by people around the world, but pose the greatest threat to the world’s most vulnerable communities.

With yet-another year of record-breaking extreme weather events and global temperature increases, we have a moral imperative to invest in climate intervention research to help assess its potential to reduce harm.

Acknowledging the severe threat posed by warming, this year, the United Nations Environment Programme, the Montreal Protocol Ozone Assessment, UNESCO, the European Commission and the United States government all issued official publications recommending research on the most promising rapid form of climate intervention, reflecting sunlight from clouds and particles in the atmosphere, sometimes called solar radiation modification. The World Climate Research Programme, the international scientific cooperative body of the WMO, launched a Lighthouse Activity on climate intervention and at COP28, youth leaders from around the world called for action on climate intervention research. 2024 will be a critical time for international  dialogue and scientific progress on climate intervention research as we look ahead to COP29.” 

Notably, this year’s COP occurred in the context of record temperatures and breach of the 1.5 degree warming increase, with heightened debate about the reality of staying below this dangerous threshold. It included a groundbreaking level of dialogue on climate intervention in panels hosted by the Ozone Secretariat, the World Meteorological Organization, the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research, Finland, and Nordic Pavilions, and in youth-led conversations at the Youth Hub and Climate Live. 

The SilverLining team has been on the ground throughout COP28, driving discussions on near-term climate risks and interventions. SilverLining events covered a wide range of topics including:

• Addressing near-term climate threats to cities

• New findings on climate risks from aerosol pollution reduction, the urgency of research and its relationship to proposed climate intervention

• The role of research, equity, and justice in assessing near-term climate risks and climate interventions  

• The importance of youth leadership in research, dialogue, and decision-making on climate interventions

• Justice & equity in Global South climate research and technology access broadly and the need for a major fund to address gaps

A complete list of SilverLining COP28 events is available online. The SilverLining team is now participating in AGU’s annual conference. 

Kelly Wanser can be available for additional comments. For media inquiries, please contact Jesus Chavez at jesus@singularity.green.

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About SilverLining:

SilverLining is a non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring that society has sufficient information and options to protect the world’s most vulnerable people and ecosystems from near-term climate risk. Like a medical foundation, SilverLining works to advance research and innovation, promote equitable and effective policies, and raise public awareness to reduce harm and save lives. SilverLining engages with the research community, policymakers, technologists, civil society, and other stakeholders in its efforts to ensure a safe climate. For more information, visit www.silverlining.ngo.