When we arrived in Dubai to attend the United Nation’s annual climate conference, Cop28—already shrouded in controversy—we didn’t know what to expect. We felt strongly, though, that it was important to be there, to document what was surely going to be a moment that would go down in history. This was the biggest Cop ever—a conference bringing together over 100,000 world leaders, delegates, negotiators, activists, journalists, and observers to discuss the blueprint for the climate action we desperately need.
As a start-up media company focused on climate justice, Earthrise didn’t want to be there just to document. We wanted to be able to connect our global audience with the spaces of power that often feel out of reach to many, to amplify the voices of leaders, artists, and activists who are fighting for the future of our planet, and to facilitate and participate in ongoing conversations about the role of culture and storytelling within the climate movement.
With this in mind, and for the first time ever, we had our own pop-up studio at Cop in partnership with YouTube, which we used as a space to host and interview a diverse array of voices and their messages to world leaders. Setting up a pop-up studio in a repurposed shipping container over 4,000 miles from our home in London was no easy task – ask my team about the day we spent frantically painting the studio, just hours before our first interview.
We were inspired by the greater emphasis placed on culture and storytelling in Dubai, with several panel events and an entire pavilion dedicated to entertainment and culture, where we even got to share a preview of our new four-part Earthrise Originals series exploring the role of the fossil fuel industry, entitled Power.
The final agreement from Cop28 is historic in that—for the first time ever—it mentions the transition away from fossil fuels. But there’s no sugarcoating the fact that it makes it impossible to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius, a goal outlined by the Paris Agreement. The historic numbers of fossil fuel lobbyists at this year’s Cop, and the failure to include “fossil fuel phase-out” in the agreement, is considered an abject failure on behalf of those who consider it a matter of life and death.
That doesn’t mean, though, it wasn’t an experience that energized us in other ways, and gave us hope for the future of the climate movement. It was truly heartening to witness a stronger presence of civil society and youth activists at Cop28 compared to last year, along with their passion and dedication to shining a spotlight on vital issues. For example, for the first time ever, we saw a day dedicated to health, and to gender and climate. And we must not forget that any mention of fossil fuels in the final agreement is credit to the climate justice activists, youth, and most climate-impacted nations who have long campaigned for this.
From a personal perspective, I couldn’t be prouder of what our small but mighty team managed to achieve. In the space of 10 days, we took part in 11 panel discussions, conducted 60 interviews in our pop-up studio, and published 40 pieces of content online (and counting).
As Cop28 comes to a close, we have witnessed firsthand the power of solidarity in determining the fate of our future. Below, see my photo diary from Dubai.