1- December-2023
U.N. Secretary General António Guterres said Friday the world is “minutes to midnight” in its goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, and he called on leaders at the U.N. climate change conference in Dubai, known as COP28, to prevent a “planetary crash and burn.”
“Earth’s vital signs are failing,” Guterres said.
His message came at the opening of two days of talks among global leaders, an early part of the two-week climate negotiations. Several notable leaders — including President Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping, representing the two largest historical emitters — are skipping the event.
The summit is an oppor犀利士 tunity for leaders to assess their failures since the 2015 Paris agreement in limiting emissions. One of the key issues for COP28 is whether the planet’s dire report card prompts an agreement to phase out fossil fuels — something Guterres urged on Friday.
More than a hundred world leaders are expected to attend the United Nations’ annual climate summit, COP28, which started in Dubai on Thursday and will continue until at least December 12.
At COP28, government representatives and climate experts will participate in negotiations around climate change mitigation while they also assess each country’s progress in recent years, amid growing worries that world leaders remain too slow to respond to the crisis.
Here is what we know about some of the prominent figures who are attending or skipping.
Highlights from the start of the summit
- The United Arab Emirates, the host of the gathering, pledged $30 billion on Friday to help the Global South with the clean energy transition and other climate projects.
- Just hours into COP28 on Thursday, nations approved an unprecedented fund aimed at delivering desperately needed money to vulnerable countries facing climate emergencies. And numerous countries made initial pledges, including $245 million from the European Union and its members — $100 million of that coming from Germany — and an additional $100 million from the United Arab Emirates. The United States’ special climate envoy, John F. Kerry, said the nation would “work with our Congress” and pledge $17.5 million.
- Why is an oil kingdom is hosting the COP28 climate summit? Here are answers to frequently asked questions about the climate talks, and why they matter.
Europe and USA
- Britain’s King Charles III
- United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak
- French President Emmanuel Macron
- First Minister of Scotland Humza Yousaf
- Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz
- Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni
- Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte
- European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen
- European Council President Charles Michel
- Spain Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez
- United States Vice President Kamala Harris
- US Special Envoy for Climate John Kerry
