(Dubai) Behind the smiles of the family photo, under the oppressive sun of Dubai, disagreements on oil remain deep: more than 140 world leaders are at COP28 on Friday to break climate paralysis, but the “turning point” called his wishes by King Charles is far from being acquired.
Guest of honor from the United Arab Emirates, host this year of the COP, King Charles III called on the presidents and monarchs before him to make this 28e UN climate conference a turning point worthy of the Paris agreement to accelerate climate action.
“Records are broken so often that we become insensitive to what they tell us,” said Charles, whose first presence at a COP as a sovereign, and who recalled his participation at COP21, where The Paris agreement was born eight years ago and is still struggling to produce sufficient results.
“I pray with all my heart that COP28 will be another decisive turning point in favor of real transformation,” he said, citing the cyclones which devastated vulnerable islands including Vanuatu, the floods in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan, or the record fires from the United States to Greece.
“The Earth does not belong to us, we belong to the Earth,” the king concluded.
PHOTO RAFIQ MAQBOOL, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Charles III
“The Earth is fed up with climate agreements that are not respected,” thundered the Brazilian Lula, who will host COP30 in two years.
By the end of the conference on December 12, more than 170 leaders are expected, according to Sultan Al Jaber, president of COP28.
“The science is clear: the 1.5°C limit is only sustainable if we eventually stop burning all fossil fuels,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres, who systematically calls for countries to commit to renouncing oil, gas and coal.
Their increasing combustion since the 19e century takes us towards an unsustainable warming of nearly 3°C by 2100.
“The planet’s vital signals are failing: record emissions, ferocious fires, deadly droughts and the hottest year on record,” he insisted.
The war at the COP
The shadow of the Israel-Hamas conflict hangs over the gathering.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog traveled to Dubai to meet other leaders in his diplomatic campaign to secure the release of hostages still held in the Gaza Strip. He notably met Lula, according to Brazilian sources.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken took a detour to Dubai on Friday to meet with his regional counterparts.
But Iranian President Ebrahim Raïssi canceled his visit because Israel was invited to participate, according to official media, and the Iranian delegation left COP28 in protest.
And King Abdullah II of Jordan said it was not possible “to talk about climate change separately from the humanitarian tragedies around us.”
“We are talking here about inclusiveness in the climate, let’s be inclusive for the most vulnerable,” he said, citing the Palestinians in Gaza and people affected by conflicts around the world.
First day successful
COP28 successfully kicked off on Thursday, with the historic realization of a fund to compensate for climate losses and damage in vulnerable countries.
Even if the first promises of financing – around 400 million dollars – remain symbolic in the face of needs, estimated in hundreds of billions.
Behind this positive signal, essential to ease tensions between the North and the South, everything remains to be done between now and the end of COP28 on December 12.
First of all, it is a question of reviewing “the role of fossil fuels”, as recognized on Thursday by Sultan Al Jaber, Emirati president of COP28, who is highly scrutinized given his other role as captain of the oil and gas industry.
A working document for the final agreement, published Friday morning, proposes that countries decide on a “reduction” or “exit” from fossil fuels. Without doubt the paragraph which will be most hotly debated in the coming days.