Another climate change COP has come and gone. As has become quite common by now, a complex set of intergovernmental negotiations are ultimately reduced to a fight over one particular issue. At the UN Climate Change Conference in Dubai, UAE (COP28), this issue was the phasing out of fossil fuels. The decision adopted in Dubai...
Tag: climatepolicy
‘Enough of endless delays’: will Cop28 force a course change for the world?
A potential peak in greenhouse gas emissions, methane efforts and climate finance are among the reasons for optimism. If current growth in renewable energy continues, and if countries take action on cutting greenhouse gases such as methane, then next year could be the year in which greenhouse gas emissions at last reach their peak. These...
UAE COP28 guest list led by bankers, lobbyists — and housekeeping
Total attendance at climate change conference in Dubai is estimated at about 80,000. The UAE host of COP28 has given access to hundreds of bankers, consultants and lobbyists — and 20 housekeepers — at the event where oil and gas executives such as ExxonMobil chief executive Darren Woods will rub up against almost 200 government...
Opinion: How climate research is polluted by fossil fuel money — and how to fix it
When Sultan Al Jaber, the president-designate of COP28, unveiled plans for a first-ever Day of Health at the upcoming United Nations-sponsored climate summit, he noted his “resolute” determination to “address the challenges posed to health by climate change.” The announcement was welcome given the climate-fueled health crises that now regularly strike our patients, including heat stroke, insect-borne diseases...
How to reach net zero five time faster
Outdated economic theories and a poor grasp of worst-case scenarios are behind our failure to curb carbon emissions, says climate policy expert Simon Sharpe – but it isn’t too late to change tack. IT IS easy to feel anxious about the state of the climate. July was the hottest month on record and hurricanes, floods and wildfires have recently ravaged many countries....
EU Climate Chief hopeful slammed for past work with Shell
Dutch MEPs and climate groups have slammed Wopke Hoekstra ‐ the Dutch government’s pick to replace former EU climate chief Frans Timmermans ‐ citing his perceived lack of climate credentials. The Dutch government recently proposed Hoekstra as the successor to former climate chief Frans Timmermans, who left the post last week to vie for the position of...
COP28 progress threatened by climate finance blame game at U.N. talks
BARCELONA – As Cyclone Biparjoy approached southern Pakistan this week, top Pakistani negotiator Nabeel Munir told governments at midyear U.N. climate talks in Bonn that it felt like he was “conducting a primary school class,” amid squabbling over the meeting agenda. The evening before the two-week negotiations were due to end in the German city on...
Flemish Environment Minister to skip COP28 and takes a dig at Dubai
After boycotting COP27 in Egypt due to concerns about the human rights situation there, Flemish Environment Minister Zuhal Demir has already confirmed she will not be attending next year’s climate summit in Dubai, either. On Wednesday, Demir announced she will not be attending the 28th UN climate conference (COP28), which will be hosted by the United Arab...