Cop28 shows that the fight against climate change is a process, not an event

A delegate attends the Cop28 climate talks at Expo City in Dubai yesterday. Attendees have been talking about radically changing course on nearly three centuries of industrialisation. AFP

The last hours of the Cop28 climate summit have been intense, as Cops often are. Producing a final communique from a fortnight of serious talks involving nearly 200 countries is hardly a simple task. But the fight against global warming is a process, not an event, and any portrayal of the conference’s outcomes as either a final “success” or “failure” will be lacking.

Some issues are more contentious than others, and none arouses passions in the climate debate more than the issue of fossil fuel use. No-one is under any illusions about the need to go beyond fossil fuels – many of the GCC states have been looking past oil for years, and diversifying their economies in the process. Moreover, the need to reduce emissions from fossil fuels is pressing. Few can forget President Sheikh Mohamed’s words from 2015 that made clear the UAE’s position: “In 50 years, when we might have the last barrel of oil, the question is: when it is shipped abroad, will we be sad?” he asked. “If we are investing today in the right sectors, I can tell you we will celebrate at that moment.”

A Cop28 participant rests on a couch. The past two weeks of climate talks have been demanding and protracted. AFP

Whether Cop28 ends with a commitment to “reduce” or “phase out” fossil fuels, it will still be the first time in nearly 30 years that a call to reduce such fuels made it into the final deal of a UN climate summit. The mooted target of 2050 itself is ambitious – delegates are talking about radically changing course on nearly three centuries of industrialisation in a little over two decades.

The question is how to ensure energy supplies in a way that does not shock the world’s interconnected economy or threaten its stability. That is the compromise that delegates have been dealing with. However, it is also important not to fixate on fossil-fuel wording to the exclusion of all else. There are many other critical issues to work on that would have an impact on global warming, for example, urging oil and gas companies doing more to cut flaring.

Other significant moments to celebrate at Cop28 have been an early agreement on a loss-and-damage fund, which was once considered an intractable issue. A $30 billion commitment made by the UAE in a climate-focused investment fund called Alterra was accompanied by news at Cop that a fund set up by the US and UAE to promote climate-friendly innovation in agriculture and the food sector had more than doubled to $17 billion.

No gathering of so many countries and different interests can reach total agreement on all issues. Getting major energy producers and consumers to discuss common interests with developing nations and climate campaigners is a significant step forward from the days when many countries still doubted the science on climate change.

Once Cop28 is behind us, the journey will continue with the UAE in the Presidency until next December. Each summit will bring us closer to the goal of preparing humanity for the challenges of the 21st century.