The climate conference in Dubai is intended to make progress in the fight against global warming. The Emirates submit. Nevertheless, the participating heads of state and government hear words of warning.
At the World Climate Conference in Dubai, the host, the United Arab Emirates, announced a new investment fund worth 30 billion US dollars (27.5 billion euros) to channel more capital into climate protection projects. The focus is on markets in developing countries, said the COP28 presidency. Together with private donors, a total of up to 250 billion dollars is to be mobilized by 2030.
According to the announcement, the focus of the planned investments is on the climate-friendly energy transition, the corresponding conversion of industrial processes and new climate protection technologies. The chairman of the supervisory board of the fund called Alterra will be COP President Sultan al-Jaber; He is already head of the state-owned oil and gas company Adnoc. The exact criteria used to select the projects initially remained unclear.
King Charles warns against indifference
King Charles III already urged participants at the World Climate Conference to act quickly against climate change. The world’s hope rests on the heads of state and government, said the British monarch in Dubai. He hopes that COP28 will be a “critical turning point towards real transformation measures”. “The earth is not ours, we belong to the earth,” said Charles.
The monarch warned against indifference. “Records are now being broken so frequently that we may become immune to what they actually tell us,” said Charles, referring to researchers’ information about ever warmer temperatures. “We are conducting a huge, frightening experiment in which we are changing every ecological state at once, at a pace that far exceeds nature’s ability to handle it,” he said.
Despite some progress, warning signs of climate change are still being ignored, criticized the 75-year-old. “Some important progress has been made, but it concerns me greatly that we have gone so terribly off track.” The proportion of CO2 and methane in the atmosphere has increased enormously. This would have devastating consequences for livelihoods around the world.
The king has been known for decades for his commitment to the environment and nature. As heir to the throne, he opened the COP21 in Paris in 2015. As king, however, he can no longer express himself as clearly as before; he is obliged to maintain strict political neutrality. A few weeks ago, Charles had to announce controversial plans by the conservative British government to massively expand oil and gas production in the North Sea.
Guterres: Only world leaders can cure ‘disease’
UN Secretary-General António Guterres also urged heads of state and government to take action against climate change. “Polar ice and glaciers are disappearing before our eyes, causing chaos across the globe: from landslides and floods to rising sea levels,” Guterres said in Dubai. “But this is just a symptom of the disease that is bringing our climate to its knees. A disease that only you, the world leaders, can cure.”
He had recently been on the melting ice of Antarctica and not long before that on the melting glaciers of Nepal. “These two places are far apart but connected in crisis.” Guterres emphasized: “The signs of life on Earth are failing.” But it is not too late to take action against it. Economy and companies worldwide would have to switch to renewable energies. The UN Secretary General demanded that COP28 be a “game changer”.
“Global warming is blowing up budgets, driving up food prices, upending energy markets and fueling a cost-of-living crisis,” he said. But climate protection can still flip the switch.
Brazil’s President: “We don’t have two planets”
According to its President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Brazil wants to be a pioneer in climate protection. “We don’t have two planet Earths,” he said at the World Climate Conference in Dubai.
It is urgent to make faster progress and protect the “unique species of humanity”. Brazil has already significantly reduced deforestation in the Amazon and, according to the president, it should fall to zero by 2030. Among comparable countries, they have one of the most ambitious climate protection plans.
Brazil will host the World Climate Conference in 2025 and is therefore already pushing for more ambition here in Dubai, also because it is itself suffering from extreme droughts. At the last world climate conference in Egypt, Lula da Silva was celebrated by climate activists shortly after his election and before taking office.
The largest rainforest in the world – home to ten percent of all species in the world – has been threatened for decades: by drought, river pollution, fires and deforestation. Despite the decline, Brazil is still a long way from achieving its stated goal of “zero deforestation.”
Von der Leyen calls for expansion of CO2 pricing
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is calling for a decisive expansion of carbon dioxide pricing systems. “We all know that if we want to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees, we have to reduce global emissions,” she said.
CO2 pricing is one of the most powerful tools for reducing climate-damaging emissions and at the same time promoting innovation and growth. Heavy polluters would then have to pay a fair price and the income could be reinvested in the fight against climate change.
Von der Leyen cited the CO2 pricing system in the European Union as a positive example of CO2 pricing. In the 18 years since launch, emissions covered by the system have fallen by almost 40 percent while the economy has continued to grow, she said. “We have raised more than 175 billion euros and this is going exclusively to climate protection, innovation and developing countries.”
According to the German politician, there are already 73 CO2 pricing instruments worldwide. However, these only covered 23 percent of global emissions. “This proportion must be increased,” warned von der Leyen. This will enable faster reductions in emissions and create a level playing field for international trade.
Lithuania, Latvia and Poland boycott family photo
The presidents of Lithuania, Latvia and Poland previously boycotted the joint family photo. According to the Lithuanian Presidential Chancellery in Vilnius, the heads of state of three EU and NATO countries refused to be included because they did not want to be in a picture with the Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko. “Lukashenko does not belong to the family we want to belong to,” Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda was quoted as saying in a statement.