“This is the most important COP since Paris,” UN Climate chief Simon Stiell said on Wednesday. “We are moving forward today with small steps, while we are expecting giant steps. » The Emirates have spent lavishly to host the 28th United Nations conference on climate change, or COP28, from Thursday, supposed to encourage countries to move up a gear on the energy transition.
“Obviously, I am strongly in favor of a text which includes the exit [des énergies fossiles] “, even with a progressive timetable, declared UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday in an interview with AFP, before flying to Dubai. This is the second time that a Gulf country has hosted a COP, after Qatar in 2012.
A first decision expected from day one
The first major decision of COP28 could come as early as Thursday, with the adoption in plenary session of the implementation of the new fund to compensate for climate-related losses and damage in vulnerable countries, after a year of very tense negotiations between countries of the North and the South. This adoption on day one would allow delegates to focus on the other battles on the agenda, starting with fossil fuels.
Thursday morning, thousands of participants began to arrive in a cozy atmosphere, without the shadow of a demonstration at this stage. More than 97,000 people (delegations, media, NGOs, lobbies, organizers, technicians, etc.) are accredited, twice as many as last year, and around 180 heads of state and government are expected according to the organizers by the 12th. December, theoretical end of the conference.