Our representatives at the 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference

Dr. Tareq Abu Hamed

Dr. Tareq Abu Hamed

Executive Director

Eliza Mayo

Deputy Director

David Lehrer

Dr. David Lehrer

Director of the Center for Applied Environmental Diplomacy

Dr. Elise Machline

Dr. Elise Machline

Director of the Center for Climate Change Policy and Research

Press release - Global Call to Action: COP29 Spotlight on Climate Resilient Humanitarian Solutions for Gaza

Updates from COP29

Adam Freeman, current student, at COP29

While our official delegation is still on the way to the 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference, current student Adam Freeman has already arrived, and is sharing some impressions from the first few days at COP29 in Azerbaijan.

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Please leave your details if you are interested in joining the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies' event at COP29 on "Climate Resilient Humanitarian Solutions for Gaza" on November 15th at 15:00.

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Please leave your details if you are interested in joining the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies' event at COP29 on "Climate Cooperation in MENA - Article 6 Investment in the West Bank" on November 16th at 13:00..

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Yesterday’s theme at COP29 Azerbaijan was Energy/Peace, Relief, and Recovery. Many sessions focused on the critical link between climate change and peace. As Kristin Lang from the Green Climate Fund said in the session on Peace and Security in a Changing Climate: From Analysis to Action, “There is no peace without climate change mitigation, and not climate mitigation without peace.”

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What can a COP conference mean when the leaders of the top 13 largest carbon dioxide polluting countries (responsible for more than 70% of 2023’s heat-trapping gases) are not in attendance? When OPEC has a pavilion alongside international organizations and networks committed climate mitigation, adaptation, and justice?

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The COP has assigned theme days. Friday’s themes were ‘energy’ and ‘peace, relief and recovery’. These are considered two separate themes officially, which seems odd from the Arava Institute’s point of view. One of the questions I raised in my introductory blog was about being an environmental peacebuilding institute in a time of war. Friday’s themes spoke to that tension.

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Yesterday’s theme at COP29 Azerbaijan was Energy/Peace, Relief, and Recovery. Many sessions focused on the critical link between climate change and peace. As Kristin Lang from the Green Climate Fund said in the session on Peace and Security in a Changing Climate: From Analysis to Action, “There is no peace without climate change mitigation, and not climate mitigation without peace.”

Click for the full post.

Yesterday’s theme at COP29 Azerbaijan was climate finance, a topic that holds particular importance for me. To decarbonize the world and remain below the critical 1.5°C temperature rise above pre-industrial levels, we need massive investments in infrastructure to enable countries to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

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Among more than 80,000 climate activists in the wide halls of COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, I wandered between hundreds of lectures, conversations, and opportunities, experiencing something I could only dream about before.

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Yesterday at COP29, the spotlight was on Science, Technology, and Innovation— a theme that resonates deeply with the challenges and opportunities in tackling the climate crisis. I attended two inspiring side events that showcased the power of innovation, partnerships, and community action.

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"We work together [with our Palestinian partners in Gaza] to bring in technology that will supply energy, water, wastewater treatment systems, food, tents that are appropriate for winter, and other immediate needs." - Dr. David Lehrer, Director of our Center for Applied Environmental Diplomacy in an interview with France 24 on our Jumpstarting Hope in Gaza initiative.

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"On my last day at COP29, I attended a session at the Israeli Pavilion organized by Mashav Aid from Israel. MASHAV runs training programs in agriculture, water, and energy for participants from developing nations worldwide.

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Israeli pavilion at COP29

To what extent can communities be a key to just transition and climate action for resilience? What is the connection between local climate action and national or international policy? Much of the Arava Institute’s applied research and development projects are community based, especially in off-grid rural communities of our region. A panel, hosted by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), an intergovernmental organization, I attended on Monday at COP29 discussed the benefits and challenges of community energy projects.

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Different human faces at COP29

When I arrived at the COP, I started asking each person I met, on the bus, while waiting in line, etc., why they were at the COP and what they hoped to get out of it. Here is a snapshot of some of their aspirations:

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