2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference

The 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also called COP28, was the 28th meeting of world leaders to talk about protecting our planet. It took place from November 30 to December 13 in Expo City Dubai. Every year, leaders from many countries meet to discuss ways to stop the world from getting too hot because of climate change and to prepare for changes that are already happening.

This conference was supposed to end on December 12, but it was extended to December 13 because some countries, including Saudi Arabia, had disagreements about the final plan. Finally, on December 13, the leaders reached an agreement called the UAE Consensus. This agreement asked all countries to move away from energy sources that hurt our environment, like coal and oil, in a fair way and to reach net zero pollution by the year 2050. This was the first time a COP agreement talked about stopping all kinds of fuels that damage the environment, but many people were not happy because the agreement did not clearly say when to stop using these fuels.

The conference faced a lot of criticism because it was led by Sultan Al Jaber, who is also the leader of a big oil company in the United Arab Emirates. Some people worried that he might not be fair because of his job. There were also concerns about the host country because the UAE is a big producer of fuels that harm the environment. These issues made some people question whether the conference was truly helping to protect our planet.

Background

The United Nations Climate Change Conference happens every year. Countries that signed the 1994 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change meet to talk about how to slow down climate change. In 2021, the United Arab Emirates said they would host the 2023 meeting. Dubai was picked to be the host city in November 2021. This was the third time a country in OPEC hosted the meeting, after Indonesia and Qatar.

The United Arab Emirates faces big climate challenges because it is very hot and dry. The temperature there has gone up by 1.27 °C since 1990. The Red Sea and Persian Gulf have gotten too hot, and there are more dust storms, rising sea levels, and droughts. The UAE has promised to stop adding more pollution to the air by 2050 and was the first country in its area to agree to the Paris Agreement in 2016. They have spent $50 billion on clean energy and plan to spend another $50 billion by 2030.

Before the meeting, leaders from the United States of America, China, and the European Union met to plan. They agreed to use three times more renewable energy by 2030. In September 2023, the United Nations shared a report showing the world is not doing enough to stop climate change. It said that to keep the temperature from rising too much, the world needs to stop using fossil fuels and work together better. Some leaders were worried that fights between countries, like the war in Ukraine and the Gaza war, would make it hard to agree on plans at the meeting.

Summit proceedings

COP28 was the biggest climate meeting ever, with over 80,000 people attending. This included more than 23,000 government leaders, such as over 150 heads of state, and 27,000 experts and representatives from places that produce energy from oil and gas. About 400,000 more people could visit a special area for activists and businesses. Many people talked about how many people came and how some used planes with a lot of pollution.

King Charles III of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth realms gave the opening speech. He talked about how much pollution is in the air and said the world is not doing enough to keep the Earth safe.

On the first day, leaders agreed to start a fund to help places that are hurt by climate change. Countries like the United Arab Emirates and Germany gave money to this fund.

During the meeting, leaders talked about how to use more clean energy like wind and sun power. They also talked about how to take care of forests and how to keep the Earth healthy.

At the end of the meeting, leaders made a plan to use less energy from oil and gas and more clean energy. They promised to help each other make these changes in a fair way. They also talked about how to keep people healthy and safe as the Earth changes.

Controversies

Before the conference, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) hired several public relations firms to improve its image regarding climate change. There were concerns that the UAE tried to change how people saw them by editing information online and using fake social media accounts to support COP28.

A report showed that the UAE prepared lists of things to say when talking about sensitive topics, like the country's climate record and human rights issues. There were also worries about how migrant workers were treated while preparing for the conference, with some reports saying they worked in very hot weather.

Some groups were concerned that the UAE might use digital tools to watch people during the conference. There were also reports that the UAE planned to discuss deals involving oil and gas with other countries during the conference. Activists were not allowed to protest freely, and some were removed from the conference when they tried to speak out about important issues.

Reactions

The head of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, was pleased that a fund to help with losses from climate change was created. She also said that to cut down on pollution, we need to put a price on carbon and stop giving money to help pay for oil, gas, and coal. In 2022, this help for oil, gas, and coal reached $7.1 trillion because fuel prices were very high.

On December 6, 2023, Haitham al-Ghais, the leader of OPEC, asked countries to work on lowering pollution from oil, gas, and coal instead of stopping their use completely. In response, Greenpeace asked Arab countries to stop using oil, gas, and coal by 2050. They said that if the world’s temperature goes up by 3 °C, countries like the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia could lose a lot of money. But if we keep the temperature rise to just 1.5 °C, the loss would be much smaller.