COP28, the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference, is taking place in Dubai from November 30, 2023 – December 12, 2023. Here are a few notable updates from the conference to-date:
On November 30, 2023, the first day of the conference, an agreement was reached to operationalize the so-called Loss and Damage Fund, which was established at COP27. The intent of the fund is to provide relief to developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change. Pledges from several countries quickly followed, including $100 million from the UAE, $100 million from Germany, £40 million from the UK, $10 million from Japan, and $17.5 million from the US.
Focus shifted to the impacts of methane emissions, a powerful greenhouse gas and contributor to warming. Bloomberg reported on December 2, 2023, that Exxon Mobil Corp. and Saudi Arabia’s Aramco led a pledge by 50 oil and gas producers to cut methane emissions. Also on December 2, the United States announced a major crackdown on methane emissions, unveiling new regulations designed to cut methane emissions from its oil and gas industry by 80%. You can read more about it in this report from The Guardian. And yet, as reported by the United Nation’s UN News, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stated that, that the pledge by the ‘giants behind the climate crisis’ falls short.
But the controversy didn’t stop there. There was widespread outrage regarding the claim by COP28 President, Sultan Al Jaber, on November 21, 2023 that, “There is no science out there, or no scenario out there, that says that the phase-out of fossil fuel is what’s going to achieve 1.5C,” further calling into question the legitimacy of the conference itself.
GreenTV.com’s coverage of COP28 continues on the GreenTV.com COP28 resource page. Check back often during the conference for updates, live streams, and reports from contributors.
* This post has been edited to add the date of Sultan Al Jaber's comments.
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