New York Times Report: The annual meeting, known as COP28, comes near the end of what scientists forecast will be the hottest year in recorded history. Greenhouse gas emissions, mainly driven by the burning of fossil fuels, have now warmed the planet by about 1.2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels. Floods, fires, droughts and storms made worse by climate change are unleashing destruction around the world. Under the current trajectory, the planet is on track to warm at least 3 degrees Celsius, a level that scientists say will unleash extreme weather around the globe and lead to a rise in sea levels that will wipe out coastal cities.
The intractable nature of the problem was driven home by the setting of this year’s conference. The United Arab Emirates is one of the world’s biggest oil producers, and Dubai is a city built using the enormous profits reaped from exporting crude. The president of COP28, Sultan Al Jaber, is also the head of the Emirati state oil company, Adnoc, an arrangement that injected a sense of disillusionment into the talks for some people.
The rift between rich and poor countries was on display throughout the day. While the United States and Western European countries are responsible in historical terms for most of the emissions that are warming the planet, developing nations are the ones bearing the brunt of climate change, and they often lack the funding to develop renewable energy and rebuild after disasters.
“In Brazil, the climate emergency is already a reality,” Brazil’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, said. “The Amazon region is going through an unprecedented drought. The level of the rivers is the lowest in 120 years. I could never imagine that this would happen in a place where we have the greatest reservoir of fresh water of the world.”
Down to language
Over the next 11 days, negotiators from more than 170 nations will write a final agreement that must be ratified by every country in attendance. The need for unanimous consent means that each word in the final document will be scrutinized. In previous years, representatives from oil-producing nations have vetoed language calling for a rapid phaseout of fossil fuels.