The American president will skip COP28 in Dubai. Neither Joe Biden’s agenda nor that of Vice-President Kamala Harris, both published by the White House, mention a trip to Dubai this week. The UN climate conference, which is being held from Thursday until December 12 in the United Arab Emirates, is expected to bring together a record of more than 70,000 participants, according to the Emirati presidency, including Pope Francis.
Joe Biden’s program includes a visit to Colorado to promote American investments in wind energy, a meeting with the president of Angola as well as the lighting of the national Christmas tree. A US official confirmed that the US president does not plan to attend COP28 this week or during a second session towards the end of the negotiations.
A meeting far from essential for American presidents
According to the same source, who requested anonymity, Washington is still considering the possibility of sending a high-level official to Dubai. John Kerry, the American envoy for climate, also a former secretary of state and former senator, will lead the negotiations for the United States. The official did not communicate the reason for Joe Biden’s decision, whose attention has been focused since last month on the war between Israel and Hamas. The American president is also seeking to highlight his projects domestically, less than a year before the presidential election.
It was not customary for the US president to attend every UN climate conference before Joe Biden arrived at the White House. The Democratic president went to COP26 in Glasgow in 2021 – to announce the return of the United States in the fight against global warming after the withdrawal from the Paris agreement decided by his predecessor Donald Trump – as well as at the COP27 organized last year in Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt.