Climate Change Institute

By Natalie Nowatzke, J.D. Candidate 2024, University of Maine School of Law  December 13, 2023  As soon as I landed in Toronto, my layover between Dubai and Boston, I started receiving notification after notification on my phone. A deal had been reached at COP28, resulting in what is called the UAE Consensus. The COP Presidency […]

As you may recall, the negotiations at COP28 circled around two important concepts – the 1.5°C target and the attachment to fossil fuels.  Negotiations on these items already seemed intractable at the beginning of the week.  Then, a letter from OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) leaked, and the drama boiled over.  The letter […]

By Ashley Brown For better or for worse, watching people walk by at COP28 there is only one word to describe people’s faces: determined. Whether it be phone calls while power walking or on-the-move networking not a single second is wasted. I saw someone with their phone and two laptops open while eating their lunch, […]

December 12, 2023 By Bryant Wolff, J.D. Candidate 2024, University of Maine School of Law Much like our planet, COP28 is heating up; while Loss and Damage has come to a close, the Global Stocktake, Global Goal on Adaptation, climate finance, and much more are still in the midst of negotiations. Questions around including language […]

Charity Zimmerman Graduate Student School of Policy and International Affairs and School of Economics, NSF One Health and the Environment Research Trainee Dec. 12, 2023 Food is a hot topic at the COP this year, and not just because many of the lunch venues have 20-minute wait times outside, under the blazing Dubai sun. A […]

By Natalie Nowatzke, J.D. Candidate 2024, University of Maine School of Law December 9, 2023 Today was Ocean Action Day at COP28, recognizing the importance of the ocean in addressing the climate crisis. Rising greenhouse gas emissions are directly linked to severe consequences for the ocean, including sea level rise, marine heatwaves, loss of biodiversity, […]

Anthony Moffa, Professor of Law, University of Maine School of Law Dec. 9, 2023 During the rest day, the University of Maine delegation regrouped and welcomed a new batch of delegates from Maine Law.  Three third-year law students – Geeta Talpade, Natalie Nowatzke and Bryant Wolff – will join me in representing our university at […]

By Nicholas R. Micinski, Assistant Professor of International Affairs and Political Science Dec. 5, 2023 The Loss and Damage Fund was officially operationalized on the first day of COP28 in Dubai. This was long awaited, and hard fought for, but is lacking in scale and specificity.  The Loss and Damage (L&D) negotiations emerged from calls […]

By Cindy Isenhour  Dec. 2, 2023 Parties agreed in Paris to “take stock” of their collective progress on the goals of the Paris agreement every five years. The process, called the global stocktake or the GST,  is intended to increase ambition over time by ensuring that parties reflect on collective success and, perhaps more importantly, […]