The 28th Conference of the UN Climate Change Convention, which opens today in Dubai (United Arab Emirates), is marked by the absences of the president of the United States, Joe Biden, and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, although they do attend. awaits a message from Xuexiang Ding, Chinese vice premier. The rarefied atmosphere created around the election of the United Arab Emirates as host and the avalanche of previous reports regarding the insufficient response in climate action form the context in which the summit negotiation will take place. An important actor in the meeting is the Secretary General of the UN, António Guterres, who has reiterated his position in favor of an agreement that points the way out of fossil fuels.
The conference will open with a call to accelerate collective climate action by the UN. The meeting coincides with the hottest year ever recorded in human history (as anticipated by the World Meteorological Organization), and when “the impacts of the climate crisis wreak unprecedented havoc on human life and livelihoods throughout the world”, according to the secretariat of the UN Climate Change Convention.
The top leaders of India or Russia will not attend the summit – whose sessions will end on December 12 – either, but King Charles III of England will participate in the opening ceremony, whose speech is highly anticipated. In total, more than 70,000 participants will attend (1,600 of them from Brazil) from almost 200 countries. The US and China negotiating delegations are led by their special envoys for climate change, John Kerry and Xie Zhenhua.
Pope Francis, suffering from flu, canceled his visit, while this Friday and Saturday the speeches of some 145 heads of State and Government are expected, including that of US Vice President Kamala Harris,
The Spanish president, Pedro Sánchez, will speak tomorrow, behind the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, and before the British prime minister, Rishi Sunak. On Friday, Lula da Silva (Brazil), Ursula von der Leyen (European Commission) and Charles Michel (European Council) will speak.
And on Saturday they will be Emmanuel Macron (France), Giorgia Meloni (Italy) and Fumio Kishida (Japan). The first week will be of a more technical nature, while the second will include a ministerial section where the texts of the agreement are outlined.
Meanwhile, the president of the conference, Ahmed al Yaber, remains at the center of the storm following BBC reports that he planned to use the summit to forge agreements on oil and gas for his own benefit. Al Yaber, who is president of the United Arab Emirates state oil giant (Adenoc), yesterday strongly denied the allegations, calling them “an attempt to undermine the work of the COP28 presidency.”
“These accusations are false, untrue, incorrect and not accurate,” Al Yaber said. “I promise you that I have never seen these talking points you are referring to or ever used them in my discussions.”
António Guterres himself, Secretary General of the UN, has defended the convenience of having the Emiratis at the head of the COP to talk about the exit from fossil fuels: "I think they are in a better position to say that to their colleagues in the fossil fuel industry than if I were a member of an NGO with a solid pro-climate record," he told France Press.
The final objective of these negotiations is to prevent warming from exceeding 1.5ºC above pre-industrial levels, for which stopping the gases that warm the planet is key. However, the planet is far from achieving this goal, because the expansion of fossil fuels has continued.
The meeting is preceded by a UN report in which it warns that the current climate commitments of the countries lead the world to a warming of between 2.5ºC and 2.9ºC, due to the unstoppable increase in gas emissions. , mostly produced by the burning of fossil energy (coal, gas and oil).
Stopping warming at 1.5ºC (to prevent the most catastrophic effects of climate change) means having to reduce emissions by 43% by 2030 compared to 2019, a more than titanic task today.
The proof is also that governments plan for 2030 an increase in fossil fuel extraction that doubles the amount that would be consistent with the 1.5°C goal.
The UN has reported that the implementation of national climate action plans (known as nationally determined contributions or 'NDCs') would collectively reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2% by 2030 relative to 2019 levels, while the science is clear, since a 43% cut is needed.
"COP28 cannot be just a photo op. Leaders must deliver: the message is clear," said UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell. "And as leaders leave Dubai after the inaugural summit, their message to negotiators must be equally clear: do not return home without an agreement that makes a real difference.
Climate finance is seen as a central element of the necessary transformation. Replenishing the green climate fund, doubling financial resources for adaptation and operationalizing the loss and damage fund are key to keeping 1.5°C within reach without leaving anyone behind, the UN says.
“Without much more finance flowing to developing countries, a renewable energy revolution will remain a mirage in the desert. COP28 must make it a reality,” added Stiell.
Progress on climate finance at COP28 will be crucial to building confidence in other negotiating areas and laying the groundwork for an even more ambitious “new collective quantified target” for climate finance, which should be in place next year.
One of the key negotiations refers to the launch of the fund to repair the losses and damages that climate damage will cause in the poorest nations, exposed and vulnerable to climate change.
Throughout this year, a transition committee has been studying who governs this fund, what resources it will have and which countries should finance it. The idea is gaining ground that the new fund will be hosted by the World Bank and new emerging economies and oil-rich nations are also encouraged to contribute.
Possible sources of new funding include one-time taxes on oil and gas profits, taxes on shipping, and levies on frequent air travelers.
"No time to lose. We need to take urgent action now to reduce emissions. At COP28, every country and every company will be held accountable, guided by the North Star: keeping 1.5°C within reach,” said COP28 President Sultan Al Jaber.
