Cop28 in the UAE is a chance to show that global diplomacy “can still work” at a time of conflict, an EU climate envoy said on Wednesday.
The climate summit begins on November 30 in the shadow of the developing crisis in Gaza and the war in Ukraine, testing the ability of 197 countries to find consensus on global warming.
Divisions over Gaza have called the UN's role as a broker into question, with Secretary General Antonio Guterres incurring Israel's anger for saying Hamas's attacks “did not happen in a vacuum”.
But with time running out to meet global climate goals, Tony Agotha, an envoy for climate and environment issues in the EU’s diplomatic arm, said leaders “understand they cannot take their eyes off the ball when it comes to climate change”.
“Arguably Cops are still one of the last strongholds where the world comes together,” he told a climate conference at London's Chatham House think tank. “People speak to each other and, in a melee, come to negotiated outcomes and I think that's a good thing.”
Mr Agotha – previously an adviser to the former EU commissioner Frans Timmermans, who masterminded the bloc's Green Deal policies – said tackling climate change was an “existential crisis which should transcend domestic and international politics”.
“It’s incumbent upon all of us, and all of our leaders, to show responsibility – first of all, for climate action, and to show that global diplomacy is still necessary and can still work,” he said.
Preparations for the summit intensified this week with pre-Cop talks in Abu Dhabi, attended by more than 70 ministers from around the world.
Dr Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and Cop28 President-designate, made a plea for pragmatism despite the “too many things dividing our world at this moment”.
Pre-Cop28 talks - in pictures
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Dr Sultan Al Jaber, Cop28 President-designate and UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, speaks at the opening ceremony of Pre-Cop28 in Abu Dhabi. All photos: Chris Whiteoak / The National -
The Zayed Sustainability Prize winners were honoured at Pre-Cop28 -
Mariam Al Mheiri, UAE Minister of Climate Change and Environment, attends Pre-Cop28 -
Simon Stiell, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, speaks at the event -
Child activist Ghaya Al Ahbabi speaks at the event -
Dr Sultan Al Jaber, Cop28 President-designate and UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, stands for a photo with Amina Mohammed, UN Deputy Secretary General, and Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, Saudi Minister of Energy -
Youth delegates make a statement at the event -
Ms Mohammed speaks during the opening ceremony -
Ms Mohammed attends the event -
John Kerry, US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, shakes hands with Morocco's Energy Minister Leila Benali -
Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade, and Mr Kerry attend the opening ceremony -
The Zayed Sustainability Prize winners were honoured at Pre-Cop28 -
Delegates pose for a photo at the opening ceremony for Pre-Cop28
“I need you to work together to come forward with solutions that can achieve alignment, common ground and consensus between all parties,” he told negotiators.
Cop28's director general Majid Al Suwaidi said he was heartened to see “enthusiasm and positivity” in the pre-Cop talks.
The main summit is scheduled to run from November 30 to December 12 at Dubai's Expo City.
Even as conflicts rage, extreme weather means it is “becoming absolutely tangible the way that weather is determining people’s lives around the world”, said Tim Benton, the head of Chatham House's environment and society programme.
Leaders at Cop28 will decide what to make of a “global stocktake” report that the world is not on track to limit the rise in global temperatures to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
Apart from Cop, “we don’t have another forum for trying to come together to make progress”, Mr Benton said.
