His presence presented a symbolic split screen: Global climate talks in one frame, Putin’s oil negotiations in the other. DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — While everyone else was trying to rescue the world from climate catastrophe, Vladimir Putin was negotiating Russia’s oil exports down the road. As the COP28 climate talks in Dubai reached their...
Rhys Davies and Ben Keith argue that the UAE is a tainted COP host
The Gulf state’s human-rights record suggests it is no champion of open dialogue, say the two lawyers. In the landscape of international diplomacy, the choice of a host country for a global summit is often symbolic. As the world prepares to converge in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for the COP28 climate conference, the decision to host...
Should this year’s COP28 be the last?
Different, more flexible and more regional summits and organisations must emerge to collectively achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement, Dr Marc Nebojsa Vukadinovic and Isabelle Négrier write. Every year since 1995, the Conference of the Parties, or COP, has brought together the member states of the United Nations to discuss climate issues. And in...
UAE Considers Export Controls That May Hurt Russia’s War Machine
The United Arab Emirates is considering introducing export licenses for a list of items including chips and other components that are sanctioned by the US and European Union and used by Russia’s military in Ukraine, according to people familiar with the matter. Read more: bloomberg.com Photo: bloomberg.com
U.N. Chief’s Test: Shaming Without Naming the World’s Climate Delinquents
The world’s top diplomat, António Guterres, the United Nations secretary general, has lately been unusually blunt in his broadsides against fossil fuel producers. He has accused them of “profiting from destruction.” He has urged governments to stop funding coal and to put the brakes on new oil and gas projects. “History is coming for the...
Russia’s geopolitical balancing act between Iran and the UAE
Russia’s geopolitical balancing act between Iran and the UAE. Kremlin has to keep up excellent ties with its two main allies in order to carry on with its assault against Ukraine: Iran for drone delivery and the United Arab Emirates for evading sanctions. The three islands of Abu Musa, Greater Tunb, and Lesser Tunb are...
Iran at odds with allied Russia after Moscow backs UAE in island dispute
Tehran summoned Russia’s ambassador on Wednesday over a Moscow-endorsed statement on three Gulf islands disputed by Iran and the United Arab Emirates. The three isles of Abu Musa, Greater Tunb and Lesser Tunb are claimed by both Tehran and the UAE, but have been held by Iran since 1971 — during the time of the...