From November 30 to December 12, 2023, global policy leaders gathered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, for COP28, the United Nations Climate Change Conference.
COP28, or the 28th Conference of the Parties, is a crucial international event focused on addressing climate change. It brings together governing officials, thought leaders, policymakers, scientists, and stakeholders from around the world to discuss and collaborate on strategies to combat the ongoing global climate crisis.
Topics included carbon emissions reduction, renewable energy adoption, climate adaptation, and financing mechanisms to support climate action planning. The conference serves as a vital platform for nations to come together and work towards a sustainable and resilient future for the planet.
Among these leaders was C-RASC Member and former Co-Principal Investigator, Dr. Tonya E. Thornton.
Before her departure from Mason, Dr. Thornton also served as a Research Professor and the Director of Grants at Mason’s Schar School of Policy and Government and was an Advisory Council Member for the Institute for a Sustainable Earth. Currently, Dr. Thornton is the Director of Critical Infrastructure Protection at the Global Connective Center and as an Advisory Committee Member for the STAR-TIDES Network. The GCC is an independent, non-partisan integrator, which brings together world class expertise, leading-edge technologies, and system-of-systems integration to deliver extraordinary solutions.
At COP28, Dr. Thornton was the subject of an executive interview titled: Keeping The Supply Chain Online: How Sustainable Digital Infrastructure Is ‘mission Critical’ For Climate Adaptation And Disaster Resilience.
Using her academic background and diverse professional experiences, Dr. Thornton had the opportunity to provide a unique ‘pracademic’ perspective on the issues at hand, including disruptive technology, cyber security, climate crisis, and the environment.
The motif of her talk was clear: risks from disasters, such as natural exposures, human-induced hazards, cyber security attacks, and pandemics, are rapidly increasing. As government and industry leaders gather at events, such as COP28, responding to, coping with, recovering from, and rebuilding after those disruptive events will be essential for future planning and preparedness activities.
To mitigate these challenges, Dr. Thornton highlighted the critical infrastructure systems identified for the successful functioning of government at the community level. These include:
- Ensuring the availability of clean drinking water is essential for safeguarding public health and supporting all human endeavors. Additionally, the appropriate treatment of wastewater is crucial in disease prevention and environmental protection.
- Facilitating the seamless movement of lawful travelers and goods, without causing significant disruptions to trade, undue concerns about safety, or compromising civil liberties, is essential. These services also play a critical role in providing essential support to communities and are of utmost importance.
- Items and offerings that contribute to the effective functioning of our modern, information-driven global society hold immense significance. Networks empower individuals across the globe to connect, access information instantaneously, and communicate even from remote locations.
- Providing fuels to the transportation sector, delivering electricity to homes and businesses, and supplying other essential energy sources that play a crucial role in supporting growth and production throughout the nation, which boasts wide diversity and geographic spread.
Lastly, Dr. Thornton’s plea to participants was straightforward: grasping the significance, origins, seriousness, and frequency of potential threats, whether inferred or real, is fundamental to the process of finding whole-of-nation solutions.
Learn more about COP28 here.