Live updates: Follow the latest news on Cop28
The World Climate Action Summit has finished, the leaders have left and, on Sunday, the crucial talks move to the next phase. Cop28 has reached day four.
The summit has seen so far a series of striking pledges on finance, food systems, renewable energy, cutting use of coal, backing the use of nuclear power, and vows from major oil and gas companies to cut C02 and methane that have garnered international support. At least $1 billion in grant funding will also go towards efforts to reduce the amount of methane in the Earth's atmosphere.
The pledges are separate from the consensus-driven negotiations at the heart of the Cop, which are continuing at the Expo City Dubai venue.
So what has happened so far and what can we expect over the next few days?
Promising start
Dr Sultan Al Jaber, Cop28 President, led the opening session on Thursday that launched the loss and damage fund with countries then stepping up with financial pledges.
The same session saw the early adaptation of the Cop28 agenda. Cop delegates often frequently squabble over this, delaying crucial talks, so the move meant negotiations could begin from day one.
By Friday, a first early draft text of the “global stocktake” was out.
The stocktake is the world’s first assessment of the Paris deal that aims to try to keep temperatures from rising by 1.5ºC above pre-industrial levels. The text was very basic but did leave open options on fossil fuels, which are expected to be one of the key sticking points in any eventual agreement.
Cop28 is also on track to be the biggest ever with UNFCCC data showing more than 80,000 registrations to attend.
Raising ambition
Global leaders endorsed a UAE declaration on food and climate action, while a separate $30 billion climate finance pledge was made by the UAE that aims to find solutions to the world's funding challenges.
The food initiative included a vow to cut emissions from farming – about a third of the world’s greenhouse gas footprint – by shifting to a more climate friendly way of operating.
There was a series of other announcements. Fifty oil and gas companies, representing more than 40 per cent of global oil production, made pledges on methane and carbon dioxide on Saturday while around 116 countries committed on Saturday to triple renewable energy capacity worldwide by 2030. It was also announced that countries, philanthropies, and industry unveiled over $1bn in grant funding for methane reduction.
Negotiating teams
The two-day World Climate Action Summit that concluded on Saturday drew leaders and royalty from around the world. The speeches grab the headlines but they are also important in galvanising the negotiation teams.
King Charles of Britain said he was praying “with all my heart” that Cop28 would be a “critical turning point” in the fight against climate change.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres urged countries to stop burning fossil fuels, while Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva rebuked those who were spending a fraction on climate compared with weapons.
Difficult talks
Negotiations among the close to 200 parties are at the heart of every Cop. These take place in rooms off limits to the public, where talks often continue long into the night. They are consensus driven, meaning every party must agree, and are separate to the pledges.
We already know teams are working on the stocktake text. This is likely to undergo numerous revisions before the end of Cop before an agreement – if any – is made.
Cop28 might also see some of separate political declaration on the stocktake but it remains to be seen what negotiated outcome will emerge or what form it will take.
Cops also tend to feature what is known as a cover decision. This is usually an announcement made at the conclusion of the summit that outlines what has been achieved by the parties. Last year’s cover decision included an agreement to establish a loss and damage fund.
The Cop28 Presidency has said this is not mandatory and it is up to the parties to decide if one is needed. Again it remains to be seen how this will play out as a cover decision may not be needed if a stocktake text is agreed. Negotiators will now step up efforts to reach agreement on issues from fossil fuels to finance before ministers typically arrive in the summit’s closing days to clinch a deal.
“It is essential that countries agree to ramp up investment in clean technologies and infrastructure, particularly in emerging market and developing countries,” said Bob Ward, policy director at the Grantham Institute for Climate Change at the London School of Economics.
“They should also agree to an ambitious date for the phase out of all fossil fuel consumption which results in the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. It might be difficult to reach agreement on these issues, but they are an essential response to the deeply worrying main finding of the global stocktake that the world is way off track from meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement.”
Thematic agenda begins
Sunday marks the start of seven themed days looking at crucial climate issues. It begins with the first in-depth look at a Cop on the impact of the crisis on human health.
The spotlight turns to finance on Monday and then to energy, a “just transition” and indigenous peoples on Tuesday.
This continues until the final two days of the summit, December 11 and 12, which are reserved exclusively for negotiations.
Also expected over the next few days are protests by climate advocates from the across the world.
The Cop president has said the UAE is welcoming all voices to the summit.
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Chatham House Rule
A mark of Chatham House’s influence 100 years on since its founding, was Moscow’s formal declaration last month that it was an “undesirable
organisation”.
The depth of knowledge and academics that it drew on
following the Ukraine invasion had broadcast Mr Putin’s chicanery.
The institute is more used to accommodating world leaders,
with Nelson Mandela, Margaret Thatcher among those helping it provide
authoritative commentary on world events.
Chatham House was formally founded as the Royal Institute of
International Affairs following the peace conferences of World War One. Its
founder, Lionel Curtis, wanted a more scientific examination of international affairs
with a transparent exchange of information and ideas.
That arena of debate and analysis was enhanced by the “Chatham
House Rule” states that the contents of any meeting can be discussed outside Chatham
House but no mention can be made identifying individuals who commented.
This has enabled some candid exchanges on difficult subjects
allowing a greater degree of free speech from high-ranking figures.
These meetings are highly valued, so much so that
ambassadors reported them in secret diplomatic cables that – when they were
revealed in the Wikileaks reporting – were thus found to have broken the rule. However,
most speeches are held on the record.
Its research and debate has offered fresh ideas to
policymakers enabling them to more coherently address troubling issues from climate
change to health and food security.
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Doucoure 90'
What is blockchain?
Blockchain is a form of distributed ledger technology, a digital system in which data is recorded across multiple places at the same time. Unlike traditional databases, DLTs have no central administrator or centralised data storage. They are transparent because the data is visible and, because they are automatically replicated and impossible to be tampered with, they are secure.
The main difference between blockchain and other forms of DLT is the way data is stored as ‘blocks’ – new transactions are added to the existing ‘chain’ of past transactions, hence the name ‘blockchain’. It is impossible to delete or modify information on the chain due to the replication of blocks across various locations.
Blockchain is mostly associated with cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Due to the inability to tamper with transactions, advocates say this makes the currency more secure and safer than traditional systems. It is maintained by a network of people referred to as ‘miners’, who receive rewards for solving complex mathematical equations that enable transactions to go through.
However, one of the major problems that has come to light has been the presence of illicit material buried in the Bitcoin blockchain, linking it to the dark web.
Other blockchain platforms can offer things like smart contracts, which are automatically implemented when specific conditions from all interested parties are reached, cutting the time involved and the risk of mistakes. Another use could be storing medical records, as patients can be confident their information cannot be changed. The technology can also be used in supply chains, voting and has the potential to used for storing property records.
What is graphene?
Graphene is extracted from graphite and is made up of pure carbon.
It is 200 times more resistant than steel and five times lighter than aluminum.
It conducts electricity better than any other material at room temperature.
It is thought that graphene could boost the useful life of batteries by 10 per cent.
Graphene can also detect cancer cells in the early stages of the disease.
The material was first discovered when Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov were 'playing' with graphite at the University of Manchester in 2004.
The 10 Questions
- Is there a God?
- How did it all begin?
- What is inside a black hole?
- Can we predict the future?
- Is time travel possible?
- Will we survive on Earth?
- Is there other intelligent life in the universe?
- Should we colonise space?
- Will artificial intelligence outsmart us?
- How do we shape the future?
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Pot 1: Iran, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, China
Pot 2: Iraq, Uzbekistan, Syria, Oman, Lebanon, Kyrgyz Republic, Vietnam, Jordan
Pot 3: Palestine, India, Bahrain, Thailand, Tajikistan, North Korea, Chinese Taipei, Philippines
Pot 4: Turkmenistan, Myanmar, Hong Kong, Yemen, Afghanistan, Maldives, Kuwait, Malaysia
Pot 5: Indonesia, Singapore, Nepal, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Mongolia, Guam, Macau/Sri Lanka
Afcon 2019
SEMI-FINALS
Senegal v Tunisia, 8pm
Algeria v Nigeria, 11pm
Matches are live on BeIN Sports
The President's Cake
Director: Hasan Hadi
Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
Rating: 4/5
Dhadak 2
Director: Shazia Iqbal
Starring: Siddhant Chaturvedi, Triptii Dimri
Rating: 1/5
World Sevens Series standing after Dubai
1. South Africa
2. New Zealand
3. England
4. Fiji
5. Australia
6. Samoa
7. Kenya
8. Scotland
9. France
10. Spain
11. Argentina
12. Canada
13. Wales
14. Uganda
15. United States
16. Russia