Jim Skea says he is encouraged by progress so far. AFP
Jim Skea says he is encouraged by progress so far. AFP
Jim Skea says he is encouraged by progress so far. AFP
Jim Skea says he is encouraged by progress so far. AFP

Cop28 is 'making progress', says UN's top climate scientist


Tim Stickings
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Live updates: Follow the latest news on Cop28

Respected and precisely spoken, the UN’s top climate expert Jim Skea is the face of “the science” at Cop28.

His verdict on the summit’s first week? It’s “a Cop that’s making progress”.

It is also visibly an inclusive Cop, he says, speaking to The National in his temporary office at Dubai’s Expo City.

This is the first summit since Prof Skea, 70, was elected chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

The IPCC’s job is to distil the world’s knowledge and give the authoritative facts on what the science is telling us.

Prof Skea has spent his time in Dubai meeting leaders, discussing the IPCC's next review cycle and reminding people what that science says.

For example, a scenario where global warming is limited to 1.5°C involves “a phase-out of unabated coal by 2050”, he says.

The Scotsman flanked Dr Sultan Al Jaber at a press conference where the Cop28 President said he “respects the science” after media reports about his views.

Prof Skea also stresses the IPCC’s independence and is not involved in the negotiations on how to slow global warming to 1.5°C, the goal of the Paris Agreement.

Those talks are now entering a tug-of-war over coal and fossil fuels after a draft text showed negotiators are considering everything from a full phase-out to agreeing nothing at all.

Some Cops like the Paris deal are headline-grabbing events while others are more a “hard grind of negotiating work”, Prof Skea said when he last spoke to The National in Germany in June.

Asked in Dubai how the talks are shaping up so far, he said: “It’s a Cop that’s making progress.

“It isn’t a landmark like Paris or Glasgow, but we’ve seen a lot of progress on the first day with the loss and damage fund being established. So we definitely have seen achievements.”

Scientists have presented findings at Cop28 that the chance of never passing 1.5°C is diminishing, leaving the world with a Plan B of overshooting and then trying to claw its way back.

These are not official IPCC findings but they mean the world may have to start preparing for the impact of an overshoot and potentially to go “net negative” to repair the damage.

“Net negative means taking carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, because you have to compensate for harder-to-abate sectors, emissions you can’t avoid,” said Prof Skea.

“That covers a wide range of different possible techniques. Most of the carbon dioxide removal taking place at the moment is with avoided deforestation, reforestation, afforestation. It’s mainly in that area. This is not rocket science – it’s doing things that we know about quite well.

“In the longer term, we might move to more engineered approaches, like bioenergy with carbon capture and storage or direct air capture, the more technological means.”

The IPCC says the use of unabated coal power would need to be phased out by 2050 in a scenario where the world meets its climate targets. Bloomberg
The IPCC says the use of unabated coal power would need to be phased out by 2050 in a scenario where the world meets its climate targets. Bloomberg

In his campaign to lead the IPCC, Prof Skea ran on a platform of inclusion, promising to make sure that people “from all kinds of backgrounds” contribute to its scientific work. He had been at talks, he said, where delegates from developing countries had to leave early to use fixed-price plane tickets.

He won a run-off vote to lead the IPCC by 90 votes to 69 against Brazilian scientist Thelma Krug, while Debra Roberts of South Africa and Jean-Pascal van Ypersele of Belgium were the other candidates.

Dr Al Jaber has similarly made inclusivity one of four pillars of the UAE’s presidency, along with the energy transition, finance and a focus on people and livelihoods.

“You just need to walk around Cop – this is quite an inclusive Cop in terms of the range of people who are there,” Prof Skea said in Dubai.

If you go

The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Seattle from Dh5,555 return, including taxes.


The car
Hertz offers compact car rental from about $300 (Dh1,100) per week, including taxes. Emirates Skywards members can earn points on their car hire through Hertz.


The national park
Entry to Mount Rainier National Park costs $30 for one vehicle and passengers for up to seven days. Accommodation can be booked through mtrainierguestservices.com. Prices vary according to season. Rooms at the Holiday Inn Yakima cost from $125 per night, excluding breakfast.

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Manchester City transfers:

OUTS
Pablo Zabaleta, Bacary Sagna, Gael Clichy, Willy Caballero and Jesus Navas (all released)

INS
Ederson (Benfica) £34.7m, Bernardo Silva (Monaco) £43m 

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Joe Hart, Eliaquim Mangala, Samir Nasri, Wilfried Bony, Fabian Delph, Nolito and Kelechi Iheanacho

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Price, base: Dh429,090

Engine 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8

Transmission Seven-speed automatic

Power 510hp @ 5,500rpm

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Fuel economy, combined 9.2L / 100km

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Name: Yousef Al Bahar

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Toss India, chose to bat

India 281-7 in 50 ov (Pandya 83, Dhoni 79; Coulter-Nile 3-44)

Australia 137-9 in 21 ov (Maxwell 39, Warner 25; Chahal 3-30)

India won by 26 runs on Duckworth-Lewis Method

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INDIA SQUAD

Rohit Sharma (captain), Shikhar Dhawan (vice-captain), KL Rahul, Suresh Raina, Manish Pandey, Dinesh Karthik (wicketkeeper), Deepak Hooda, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Vijay Shankar, Shardul Thakur, Jaydev Unadkat, Mohammad Siraj and Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper)

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Director: Shazia Iqbal

Starring: Siddhant Chaturvedi, Triptii Dimri 

Rating: 1/5

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Bangladesh (from): Shadman Islam, Mominul Haque, Soumya Sarkar, Shakib Al Hasan (capt), Mahmudullah Riyad, Mohammad Mithun, Mushfiqur Rahim, Liton Das, Taijul Islam, Mosaddek Hossain, Nayeem Hasan, Mehedi Hasan, Taskin Ahmed, Ebadat Hossain, Abu Jayed

Afghanistan (from): Rashid Khan (capt), Ihsanullah Janat, Javid Ahmadi, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Asghar Afghan, Ikram Alikhil, Mohammad Nabi, Qais Ahmad, Sayed Ahmad Shirzad, Yamin Ahmadzai, Zahir Khan Pakteen, Afsar Zazai, Shapoor Zadran

Dolittle

Director: Stephen Gaghan

Stars: Robert Downey Jr, Michael Sheen

One-and-a-half out of five stars

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Director: Matty Brown

Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea

Rating: 2.5/5

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Recharge as needed, says Mat Dryden: “We try to make it a rule that every two to three months, even if it’s for four days, we get away, get some time together, recharge, refresh.” The couple take an hour a day to check into their businesses and that’s it.

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The biog

Nickname: Mama Nadia to children, staff and parents

Education: Bachelors degree in English Literature with Social work from UAE University

As a child: Kept sweets on the window sill for workers, set aside money to pay for education of needy families

Holidays: Spends most of her days off at Senses often with her family who describe the centre as part of their life too

Gothia Cup 2025

4,872 matches 

1,942 teams

116 pitches

76 nations

26 UAE teams

15 Lebanese teams

2 Kuwaiti teams

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Updated: December 06, 2023, 7:25 AM