Towards COP28: UAE pledges to build on COP27 recommendations

Building consensus between the parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) through facilitating a comprehensive dialogue is an objective of the 28th session of the Conference of Parties (COP28) due to convene in the United Arab Emirates from November 30 to December 12, 2023.

Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and Chairman of the Higher Committee overseeing preparations to host COP28, said that the next COP summit will build on what was achieved at Cop27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, promising to facilitate “a comprehensive dialogue and providing innovative solutions.”

“After the success in gathering the world at Expo 2020 Dubai, the UAE will leverage its outstanding track record as a trusted global convenor to ensure that COP28 will be inclusive, transparent, and pragmatic. COP28 aims to transform and urgently accelerate climate action to meet the commitments the world has made,” he was quoted as saying in a press conference on December 18 following a meeting on preparations for hosting COP28, which is due to convene in Expo City Dubai.

After more than two weeks of hard talks among the parties of the 2022 UN Climate Convention Conference (COP27) in Sharm El-Sheikh, the parties agreed to establish a fund for the loss-and-damage financial pledges for adaptation programs in developing countries affected by climate change, as well as keeping the 1.5-degree pledge “intact”. 

The long-awaited deal was struck after more than three decades of calls from the developing countries for reparations from the developed countries over the losses and damages caused by climate change impacts as a result of the rich countries’ industrial revolutions.

Besides the establishment of the new fund focused on addressing loss and damage, the parties also established a transitional committee that will be tasked with arranging the fund’s structure and governance, in addition to “identifying and expanding sources of funding; and ensuring coordination and complementarity with existing funding arrangements,” according to the final decisions issued by the COP27 Presidency and the parties of the UNFCCC on Sunday, November 20.

The new transitional committee would work on operationalizing “both the new funding arrangements and the fund at COP28 next year. The first meeting of the transitional committee is expected to take place before the end of March 2023,” the UNFCCC added.

 The COP28 conference is expected to host more than 140 heads of state and government, 80,000 participants, and about 5,000 media professionals, said Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and UAE Climate Change Special Envoy, in a press conference at the annual meetings of the UAE government. The meeting reviewed the UAE’s hosting of COP28 and was attended by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and ruler of Dubai, on November 22.

“The UAE's hosting of COP28 will be the most prominent event for the country in 2023. We have confidence that the UAE will organize the most successful global environmental conference,” said Sheikh Maktoum.