Cop28, the world gathers in Bonn ahead of the Dubai conference
Environment — di Andrea Barolini
Until 15 June, Bonn will host talks aimed at paving the way for Cop28 in Dubai. Three major issues are on the table for delegates.
Cop28, the world gathers in Bonn ahead of the Dubai conference
Until 15 June, Bonn will host talks aimed at paving the way for Cop28 in Dubai. Three major issues are on the table for delegates.
Six months remain until the opening of the twenty-eighth United Nations world climate conference, Cop28, which will be held in Dubai between November and December. And ahead of that event, delegates from nearly 200 nations have gathered in Bonn, Germany, for the preparatory work for the summit. The hope is to manage to pave the way, untangling as many knots as possible. The fear is that the same film already seen at nearly every Cop since the 2015 conference that led to the adoption of the Paris Agreement will be screened again.
The distance between governments on the climate issue
This year, in fact, it is not only the "usual" divisions between nations that weigh heavily. Nations are split between those trying to save their skin – literally – which is the case in particular for the small island nations gathered in the Aosis group, and those focused above all on not losing business, capital and market share. Adding to fears of the worst is the very venue of Cop28, which will be held in a country known for strenuously defending fossil fuels. It is no coincidence that Sultan Ahmed al-Jaber has been appointed to chair the conference – he is the chief executive of the United Arab Emirates oil giant Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc).
🚨 Negotiators are at the UN in Bonn, Germany 🇩🇪 to prepare December's #COP28 climate summit. 🌍
📢 Big protests are underway outside, denouncing ⛽fossil fuel industry capture and calling to #KickBigPollutersOut 🥾 #FossilFreePolitics
#SB58
📢 Big protests are underway outside, denouncing ⛽fossil fuel industry capture and calling to #KickBigPollutersOut 🥾 #FossilFreePolitics
#SB58
Nevertheless, Bonn will attempt to smooth the path for the end-of-year negotiations. On the table, there are in particular at least three issues. The first concerns the work programme on climate change mitigation – in other words, the necessary reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, which has so far been wholly insufficient to limit the rise in global average temperature to a maximum of 1.5 degrees centigrade above pre-industrial levels by the end of the century.
Emissions, loss and damage funds and adaptation on the table at Cop28
In this regard, the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) – that is, the pledges made by governments around the world to reduce climate-altering emissions – will come back into focus. Even if these commitments were to be honoured in full, they would lead to an increase of around 2.5 degrees, falling dramatically short of the targets set by the international community itself. A new United Nations report is expected in September, which will quantify the new pledges and indicate what trajectory the world is currently following.
The UAE is a deeply repressive government that is expanding its fossil fuel industry — and it's hosting COP28, the global UN climate conference.
As #SB58 climate talks start in Bonn, governments should stand up for rights and for phasing out fossil fuels.
trib.al/eYUVNRZ
As #SB58 climate talks start in Bonn, governments should stand up for rights and for phasing out fossil fuels.
trib.al/eYUVNRZ
The second issue is a "product" of the outcome reached at Cop27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, at the end of which the wealthy world accepted the principle that it is necessary to guarantee the funds needed for the so-called "loss and damage" suffered primarily by the world's poorer nations as a result of global warming. What now needs to be established is how the new fund will work: who will contribute to it, in what way, which countries will be able to draw from it and under what conditions. An enormous game, yet to be played.
The third issue on the table in Bonn concerns the sadly notorious 100 billion dollars a year in transfers, once again from the wealthy world to the poorer one, to adapt to climate change. Money promised back in 2009, at Cop15 in Copenhagen, and never fully delivered.
One hundred American and European lawmakers call for the removal of Sultan al-Jaber
Meanwhile, more than one hundred European and American lawmakers have openly called for al-Jaber's removal from the presidency of Cop28, launching an appeal to United States President Joe Biden, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres.
We must ensure transparency at the world’s largest forum on the climate crisis.
Our letter demands that companies participating in COP28 be required to file audited climate political footprint statements.
Our letter demands that companies participating in COP28 be required to file audited climate political footprint statements.
"We cannot allow vested interests to create further obstacles in the race against climate change," explained Sheldon Whitehouse, one of the American senators most committed to the fight against climate change. The letter was, however, sent some two weeks ago and nothing, at this stage, foreshadows a possible change at the helm of the Dubai conference.