2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference

2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference
Logo
A group photo of national leaders and other dignitaries at the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference
Native name 2023 United Nation Climate Change Conference
Date30 November – 13 December 2023 (2023-11-30 – 2023-12-13)
LocationExpo City, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Organised byUnited Arab Emirates
ParticipantsUNFCCC member countries
PresidentSultan Al Jaber
Previous event← Sharm El Sheikh 2022
Next event→ Baku 2024
Websitecop28.com
Al Wasl Plaza, Expo City, Dubai

The 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference or Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC, more commonly known as COP28, was the 28th United Nations Climate Change conference, held from 30 November to 13 December at Expo City, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The COP conference has been held annually (except for the year 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic)[1] since the first UN climate agreement in 1992. The event is intended for governments to agree on policies to limit global temperature rises and adapt to impacts associated with climate change.[2]

The conference was originally scheduled to end on 12 December, but had to be extended following Saudi objections on the final agreement.[3] On 13 December, the conference president, Sultan Al Jaber announced that a final compromise agreement between the countries involved had been reached. The deal commits all signatory countries to move away from carbon energy sources "in a just, orderly and equitable manner" to mitigate the worst effects of climate change, and reach net zero by the year 2050.[4] The global pact, referred to as the UAE Consensus, was the first in the history of COP summits to explicitly mention the need to shift away from every type of fossil fuels, but it still received widespread criticism due to the lack of a clear commitment to either fossil fuel phase-out or phase-down.[4] China and India did not sign the pledge to triple their output of renewable energy and committed to coal power instead.[5][6]

The conference was widely criticised for its controversial president Sultan Al Jaber, as well as its host country, the UAE, which is known for its opaque environmental record and role as a major producer of fossil fuels.[7] Al Jaber is the CEO of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), leading to concerns over conflict of interest.[8] Claims of greenwashing of Al Jaber on Wikipedia, Twitter and Medium;[9] the legal inability to criticise Emirati corporations in the UAE;[10] alleged covert access to conference emails by ADNOC;[11] and the invitation of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad have all raised concerns regarding the integrity of the conference.[12] Al Jaber stated before the beginning of the conference that there was "no science" behind fossil fuel phase-out in achieving 1.5 °C;[13] and leaked documents appeared to show the UAE planned to use the conference to strike new fossil fuel deals with other nations.[14] Al Jaber claimed that his comments on the phase-out of fossil fuels were "misinterpreted" and denied the latter allegation, asserting that the UAE does not need the COP presidency to establish business deals.[15][16]

  1. ^ "Event: Glasgow Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC COP 26) | SDG Knowledge Hub | IISD". Archived from the original on 2021-10-17. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
  2. ^ Stallard, Esme (2022-10-25). "COP27: What is the Egypt climate conference and why is it important?". BBC News. Archived from the original on 2023-02-14. Retrieved 2022-10-27.
  3. ^ El Dahan, Maha (2023-12-13). "COP28 agreeable to Saudis as it lets nations chart own course - source". Reuters. Archived from the original on 2023-12-13. Retrieved 2023-12-20.
  4. ^ a b Morton, Adam; Greenfield, Patrick; Harvey, Fiona; Lakhani, Nina; and Carrington, Damian (2023-12-13). "Cop28 landmark deal agreed to 'transition away' from fossil fuels". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 2023-12-13. Retrieved 2023-12-13.
  5. ^ Slav, Irina (2023-12-17). "BRICS in the Land of Energy Transition". OilPrice.com. Archived from the original on 2023-12-18. Retrieved 2023-12-19.
  6. ^ Lin, Zi (2023-12-13). "Why China didn't sign global pledge to triple renewables". China Dialogue. Archived from the original on 2023-12-18. Retrieved 2023-12-19.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Carrington 2023 t429 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Levingston, Ivan; England, Andrew; Sheppard, David (2023-08-09). "Abu Dhabi oil giant builds internal 'investment bank' to chase $50bn in global deals". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 2023-11-10. Retrieved 2023-11-27.
  9. ^ Carrington, Damian (2023-06-08). "Army of fake social media accounts defend UAE presidency of climate summit". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2023-06-08. Retrieved 2023-06-13.
  10. ^ Mooney, Attracta; Williams, Aime (2023-04-02). "UAE climate event organisers warn speakers not to 'criticise corporations'". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 2023-04-27. Retrieved 2023-04-02.
  11. ^ Carrington, Damian (2023-06-07). "'Absolute scandal': UAE state oil firm able to read Cop28 climate summit emails". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 2023-06-07. Retrieved 2023-12-04.
  12. ^ Shea, Joey (2023-05-18). "UAE Invites Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to COP28". HRW. Archived from the original on 2020-01-02. Retrieved 2023-05-29.
  13. ^ Meredith, Sam (2023-12-04). "COP28 president sparks outcry after he claims there's 'no science' behind fossil fuel phase out". CNBC. Archived from the original on 2023-12-04. Retrieved 2023-12-04.
  14. ^ "UAE accused of using COP28 talks to strike fossil fuel deals". euronews. 2023-11-28. Archived from the original on 2023-12-02. Retrieved 2023-12-04.
  15. ^ Laville, Sandra; Horton, Helena (2023-12-04). "Al Jaber says comments claiming there is 'no science' behind demands for phase-out of fossil fuels were 'misinterpreted' – Cop28 as it happened". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 2023-12-18. Retrieved 2023-12-20.
  16. ^ "COP28 president denies using summit for oil deals". 2023-11-29. Archived from the original on 2023-12-08. Retrieved 2023-12-14.