The 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also called COP28, was the 28th meeting of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). It took place from November 30 to December 13, 2023, in Expo City Dubai. Since the first UN climate agreement in 1992, the COP conference has been held every year, except in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The event brings together governments to create policies that aim to reduce global temperature increases and help countries adapt to the effects of climate change.

The conference was originally planned to end on December 12, but it was extended after Saudi Arabia objected to the final agreement. On December 13, the conference president, Sultan Al Jaber, announced that a final agreement had been reached. This agreement asks all participating countries to move away from carbon-based energy sources in a fair and organized way to reduce the worst effects of climate change. It also sets a goal for all countries to reach net zero emissions by 2050. The agreement, called the UAE Consensus, is the first COP agreement to explicitly mention the need to stop using all types of fossil fuels. However, it did not clearly commit to ending or reducing fossil fuel use. China and India did not agree to increase their renewable energy production threefold and instead pledged to continue using coal power.

The conference faced criticism for Sultan Al Jaber, the conference president, and the host country, the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The UAE is known for having a not clear environmental record and being a major producer of fossil fuels. Sultan Al Jaber is the CEO of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), raising concerns about a possible conflict between his job and his role as conference president. Reports on websites like Wikipedia, Twitter, and Medium suggested that Al Jaber may have promoted misleading environmental claims. In the UAE, it is legally difficult to criticize companies owned by the government. There were also claims that ADNOC secretly accessed conference emails, and the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, was invited to the event, which raised questions about the conference's fairness. Before the conference, Al Jaber said there was "no science" behind ending fossil fuel use to meet the 1.5°C global warming target. Leaked documents suggested the UAE planned to use the conference to make new fossil fuel deals with other countries. Al Jaber later said his comments about ending fossil fuels were "misinterpreted" and denied the claim that the UAE used the conference to make business deals.

Background

The United Nations Climate Change Conference is an annual meeting for all countries that signed the 1994 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. It happens every year, with the host country changing among its members. In early 2021, the United Arab Emirates offered to host the 2023 event. Dubai was selected as the host city in November of the same year. This was the third time a member of OPEC hosted the conference, following Indonesia in 2007 and Qatar in 2012.

The United Arab Emirates is one of the countries most affected by climate change because of its extremely hot and humid climate. Between 1990 and 2022, the average air temperature in the UAE increased by 1.27°C (2.29°F). The Red Sea and Persian Gulf have reached dangerous wet-bulb temperature levels multiple times. Other effects in the region include more frequent dust storms, rising sea levels, and droughts. The UAE has promised to reduce carbon emissions to net zero by 2050, making it the first Middle Eastern government to make such a commitment. It also signed the Paris Agreement on September 21, 2016, and has invested $50 billion in clean energy globally, with a goal to invest an additional $50 billion by 2030.

Choosing the UAE as the host country faced criticism from climate scientists and human rights groups worldwide. The UAE is a major oil producer and a country with limited freedom of speech. Organizers warned speakers not to criticize Islam, the government, or individuals. Human Rights Watch encouraged governments to use the event to push the UAE to improve rights protections and stop punishing activists like Ahmed Mansoor. On August 1, 2023, the UAE allowed environmental activists to gather peacefully at the summit, even though laws prohibit unauthorized protests.

The UAE’s decision to appoint Sultan Al Jaber as president of COP28 caused more controversy. Al Jaber is also the CEO of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC). In February 2023, ADNOC announced plans to expand fossil fuel drilling. Over 100 members of the European Parliament, U.S. senators, and representatives signed a letter asking the UAE to remove Al Jaber from his role. U.S. climate envoy John Kerry called the appointment “risky” but supported it, saying it was important to include fossil fuel producers in the discussions.

In June 2023, a report by The Guardian revealed that ADNOC shared an email server with COP28, allowing ADNOC to read emails between the climate summit and its office. After the report, COP28 switched to a different server.

Before the summit, the United States, China, and the European Union worked together on preparations. U.S. climate envoy John Kerry, Chinese climate envoy Xie Zhenhua, and EU climate envoy Frans Timmermans met regularly to discuss goals. On November 15, the U.S. and China announced an agreement to triple global renewable energy use by 2030. The agreement included a commitment to reduce greenhouse gases but did not include a promise to stop using coal-fired power plants. Some people hoped for a climate agreement similar to the 2014 deal that helped create the Paris Agreement. China shared a plan to reduce methane emissions but faced expected disagreements over coal use. China views coal as essential for its energy needs, though others argue energy security could improve with better grid systems and domestic markets. Talks between U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng focused on climate cooperation. Expectations were high for a meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the 2023 APEC summit.

At the end of November 2023, a pre-COP meeting with 100 delegations and 70 ministers took place, the largest such meeting ever. The COP28 director, Majid al-Suwaidi, stated the conference would create a loss and damage fund, as agreed at the 2022 climate conference.

The UAE initially invited Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad, to COP28, but this caused widespread criticism. Assad did not attend, sending his prime minister instead.

Before the summit, the Muslim Council of Elders, COP28, the UN Environment Programme, and the Catholic Church, under the support of UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, organized a Global Faith Leaders Summit. This event brought together 28 religious leaders to discuss climate change.

In September 2023, the United Nations released the first two-year assessment of global climate progress, called the “global stocktake.” This report, created during COP26 in 2021, is planned to be repeated every five years. Key findings included:
– The Paris Agreement and climate actions have helped reduce emissions. In 2011, warming by 2100 was projected to reach 3.7–4.8°C. After COP27, this dropped to 2.4–2.6°C, and could be as low as 1.7–2.1°C if all pledges are met.
– As of September 2023, the world is not on track to meet the Paris Agreement goals. To have more than a 50% chance of limiting warming to 1.5°C and more than a 67% chance of limiting it to 2°C, global emissions must peak by 2025.
– Trillions of dollars are needed to limit warming to 1.5°C.
– Stronger international cooperation is essential to meet the Paris Agreement targets.

Fatih Birol, head of the International Energy Agency, expressed hope for progress at COP28 but noted challenges, including geopolitical tensions from the war in Ukraine and strained U.S.-China relations. The climate envoy from Bangladesh said global solidarity is needed to address climate change and create a loss and damage fund. Concerns were raised that the 2023 Gaza war might affect negotiations at COP28.

Before the conference, Pope Francis released an apostolic exhortation called Laudate Deum, urging action against climate change and condemning climate denial. The Pope planned to attend COP28 but had to cancel due to health reasons. U.S. President Joe Biden did not attend, citing the Gaza war and U.S. government budget challenges.

Professor Alon Tal, a climate change expert, stated that there was no strong reason to expect significant progress at the 2023 UN climate conference. As November approached, the outlook for the annual meeting was uncertain.

Summit proceedings

COP28 was the largest climate summit ever held, with over 80,000 officially registered participants. This number increased from 49,000 the year before. Of these, 23,500 were from government teams, including more than 150 heads of state and government. Another 27,000 were policy experts, academics, and representatives from fossil fuel companies, though they were not allowed to join official discussions. An additional 400,000 people had access to the "green zone," a special area for activists and businesses. The large number of attendees and the use of private jets by many participants led to some criticism. The meeting was estimated to have the largest carbon footprint of any climate summit so far.

King Charles III of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries gave the opening speech. He warned that the world is "dreadfully far off track" in meeting climate goals and described the current situation as a "vast, frightening experiment" that could overwhelm nature’s ability to adapt.

On November 30, 2023, the first day of the summit, a "loss and damage" fund was agreed upon to help poor countries affected by climate change. The fund will be managed by the World Bank. The United Arab Emirates, the host country, and Germany each pledged $100 million. Smaller contributions came from the United Kingdom ($75 million), the United States ($24.5 million), and Japan ($10 million), bringing the total to $430 million on the first day.

On December 1, 2023, activists protested outside the venue, calling for ecocide—mass destruction of the environment—to be classified as a crime by the International Criminal Court. That same day, Brazil’s environment and finance ministers introduced the Tropical Forest Forever Facility, a tool to fund tropical forest conservation.

On December 3, 2023, participants launched a declaration to triple nuclear energy capacity from 2020 to 2050. The declaration was introduced by U.S. climate envoy John Kerry and signed by 25 countries. These countries pledged to expand nuclear energy, stating it is important for reducing carbon emissions to net zero.

On December 2, 2023, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called for a gradual end to the use of fossil fuels, including coal, oil, and natural gas. He reaffirmed Germany’s goal to be climate neutral by 2045, citing technologies like wind power, solar energy, electric vehicles, and green hydrogen as solutions.

On December 3, 2023, The Guardian reported that COP28 President Sultan Al-Jaber had previously rejected calls to phase out fossil fuels, claiming such a move would harm economic development. The next day, Al-Jaber said he respects science and believes a fossil fuel phaseout is unavoidable.

On December 11, a draft of the final agreement was released. It was criticized by many Western countries for not calling for a complete phaseout of fossil fuels. The Alliance of Small Island States called the draft a "death certificate" for small island nations. Some African countries argued that wealthy nations should lead in reducing fossil fuel use before expecting poorer countries to do the same. OPEC, a group of oil-producing countries, also opposed mentioning a fossil fuel phaseout. After two days of talks, a compromise was reached. The final agreement called for countries to "end their dependence" on fossil fuels "in a just, orderly, and equitable manner," but did not demand a full phaseout. The agreement also aimed to triple global renewable energy capacity by 2030, develop "zero- and low-emission technologies," reduce coal power use, and cut methane emissions. The term "unabated" (which refers to coal use without carbon capture and storage) was not clearly defined in the agreement. China and India did not sign the pledge to increase renewable energy and instead committed to continue using coal.

For the first time, the global pact explicitly mentioned the need to move away from all fossil fuels. However, the agreement was criticized for not clearly committing to phase out or phase down fossil fuels, as requested by many countries, scientists, and activists. It also lacked a clear plan to help developing nations transition to clean energy. The inclusion of carbon capture and storage in the list of "zero- and low-emission technologies" was questioned because it is expensive and less effective than other methods.

Participants pledged $85 billion to address climate issues and made ten commitments:

• Coalition for High-Ambition Multilevel Partnerships (CHAMP): Signed by 71 countries, including the United States, Brazil, France, and Germany. It includes goals to promote climate action, set more ambitious climate targets by 2025, improve climate adaptation, and protect biodiversity to limit warming to 1.5 degrees.
• UAE Leaders' Declaration on a Global Climate Finance Framework: Signed by 13 countries, including the United States, India, the United Kingdom, and Germany. It includes goals to raise $100 billion by 2025 and $5–7 trillion by 2030 for climate action, reform debt policies, set emissions pricing, and attract public and private investment.
• COP28 UAE Declaration on Climate and Health: Endorsed by 143 countries, including the European Union, China, and the United States. It includes efforts to reduce health risks from climate change, work with Indigenous peoples, women, and local communities, and prevent disease spread from animals to humans.
• COP28 Declaration on Climate, Relief, Recovery, and Peace: Adopted by 82 countries, including Canada, China, Ukraine, the United States, and Rwanda. It includes commitments to promote peace, use environmental policies to support peace, reduce climate-related conflicts, and help people affected by environmental and conflict issues.
• Global Renewables and Energy Efficiency Pledge: Signed by 130 countries, including Bhutan, Brazil, the European Union, Angola, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, and Chad. Countries pledged to prioritize energy efficiency, double the rate of energy efficiency improvements to 4% annually by 2030, and triple renewable energy capacity by 2030 in a fair and environmentally responsible way.
• COP28 UAE Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture, Resilient Food Systems, and Climate Action: Adopted by 159 countries, including Australia, Belarus, Brazil, China, and the United States. It includes goals to make food systems more sustainable, improve food security for vulnerable people, manage water resources better, and integrate food systems into climate strategies.
• COP28 Gender-Responsive Just Transitions and Climate Action Partnership: Includes 76 countries, such as Canada, China, Sweden, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It focuses on ensuring fair transitions to clean energy while addressing gender-related challenges.

Controversies

Before the conference, the UAE hired public relations and lobbying companies, such as Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, Gulstan Advisory, and FleishmanHillard, to improve its image on climate change. People said the UAE tried to change how others saw them, including claims that Al Jaber's team changed Wikipedia to make him look better. ADNOC and Masdar also paid Wikipedia editors to make changes to their pages, but the editors followed Wikipedia's rules about conflicts of interest. Reports also said fake social media accounts on Twitter and Medium were created to promote COP28 and support the UAE's role as the conference host.

A report by The Guardian, based on leaked documents, showed the UAE had prepared many talking points for organizers to use when discussing difficult topics, such as the country's climate record and human rights issues, like the war in Yemen and human trafficking. One example was telling people to avoid questions about ADNOC's refusal to share emissions data by saying, "ADNOC is currently conducting necessary studies."

Journalist Amy Westervelt said a new rule requiring industry lobbyists to identify themselves at COP28 was not enough to control their influence.

Over the past ten years, the UAE spent more than $1 million on climate-related advocacy and paid millions more to public relations firms and think tanks to improve its image as a green country. No other country hosting a climate conference has spent as much time and money to shape its image before the event.

The UAE hired a US-based PR firm, First International Resources, to reduce negative news about the UAE as the COP28 host. This happened after people criticized the UAE for choosing Sultan Al Jaber as the COP28 president. In August 2023, the firm registered under the US Foreign Agents Registration Act to represent Masdar. The firm aimed to influence leaders in Washington, D.C., and Europe to see the UAE as important in fighting climate change. The UAE agreed to pay the firm $100,000 each month. Jamie Henn, founder of Fossil Free Media, said such a large payment is usually made when a country wants to change public opinion, like claiming the UAE and Al Jaber were "really committed to transitioning away from fossil fuels."

In August 2023, The Guardian reported the UAE did not report its methane emissions to the UN for nearly ten years. At the same time, Sultan Al Jaber's company, ADNOC, set a higher methane leak target than it had already reached. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas, and reducing it is a fast and low-cost way to slow global warming. In November 2023, a research group found the UAE regularly released methane gas, breaking its own rules. The UAE's foreign minister asked people in 20 countries to share their opinions about the UAE. Most concerns were about human rights. One person said COP conferences have become places for activism and added, "We need to protect the UAE's reputation and reduce attacks as much as possible." A COP28 spokesperson said the leaked recording was unverified but said COP28 would "engage all stakeholders."

The UAE is changing its conference site, which was the location of Expo 2020, to host COP28. A UK-based human rights group, FairSquare, said migrant workers were exposed to dangerous heat and humidity while preparing for the event. In September 2023, workers from Asia and Africa were working outdoors in temperatures of 42°C (108°F), even though there was a rule against working during midday. COP28 denied the claims, saying no proof of the rule being broken was found. A worksite supervisor said most work happens at night, but some must be done when needed. A COP28 spokesperson said contractors must have plans to protect workers from heat and use tools to monitor weather conditions, including temperature and wind speed.

Before COP28, Amnesty International warned the UAE might use digital surveillance to monitor human rights defenders and others in the UAE, including COP28 participants. Amnesty said the UAE had a history of using digital tools to stop free speech. Amnesty said the UAE's promise to give a "platform for activists' voices" would not work unless the UAE respected privacy and the right to peaceful assembly. Amnesty opposed the "unlawful electronic surveillance of conference participants and people living in the UAE." It said COP28 attendees should be allowed to use apps that protect their communications.

On November 7, 2023, an AFP investigation found leaked documents showing McKinsey, the main advisor to COP28, was pushing the interests of its oil and gas clients, like ExxonMobil and Aramco. People involved in COP28 planning said McKinsey put its own interests ahead of climate goals. McKinsey's plan for COP28 would allow continued investment in fossil fuels, which would hurt the goals of the Paris Agreement. McKinsey's plan suggests reducing oil use by only 50% by 2050 and continuing to invest billions in high-emission projects until 2050.

On November 27, 2023, a report by the Centre for Climate Reporting and BBC News said the UAE planned to use COP28 to discuss fossil fuel deals with 15 countries, including a deal with China to explore natural gas opportunities in Mozambique, Canada, and Australia. The report also said ADNOC planned to talk about fossil fuel deals with 15 countries, and Masdar planned to discuss energy deals with 20 countries, including the UK, France, and Germany. Sultan Al Jaber denied reports that the UAE wanted to make oil deals at the summit, calling the claims an attempt to harm his work.

An analysis found that at least 2,456 people at COP28 were fossil fuel lobbyists, receiving more passes than the ten countries most affected by climate change. Oxfam found that 34 billionaires, worth about $495 billion, attended COP28 as delegates. A quarter of these billionaires made their money in industries that pollute a lot.

Sultan Al Jaber, the president of COP28, faced criticism for saying there is no scientific basis for ending fossil fuels to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. This claim was reported by The Guardian and the Centre for Climate Reporting. His comments were described as "incredibly concerning" and close to denying climate change. His remarks went against the position of UN Secretary-General António Guterres. The comments were

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The head of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, said she was happy that a fund to help countries deal with loss and damage from climate change was created at the beginning of the conference. However, she emphasized that to reduce carbon emissions further, carbon pricing must be improved, and support for fossil fuels must end. In 2022, support for fossil fuels reached a high of 7.1 trillion dollars because of rising fuel prices and inflation. Some ideas for a global carbon market, managed by the United Nations, were discussed at the conference. Some progress has already been made.

On December 6, 2023, Haitham al-Ghais, the current head of OPEC, asked member countries to focus on reducing carbon emissions during negotiations, rather than banning the use of fossil fuels. In response, Greenpeace released a statement urging Arab nations to stop using fossil fuels by 2050, ensuring a fair transition for workers and communities. Greenpeace cited a study by Christian Aid and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in Vienna, which found that if global temperatures rise to 3°C, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia could see their GDP growth drop by 72% by 2100. The study, called Mercury Rising, predicts an average 69% drop in GDP growth for countries in the Persian Gulf, with the greatest impact on Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, and the UAE. If global warming is limited to 1.5°C, GDP growth would decrease by 8.2% by 2050 and 36% by 2100.