The United Nations climate conference is underway in Dubai, and representatives from around the world will be confronting an extraordinary array of challenges over its two weeks. They carry with them some long-held – and new – grievances, and strong expectations.
Framing the agenda is a “global stocktake” – an assessment of progress toward the 2015 Paris Agreement to keep global warming in check. Unsurprisingly, as record-breaking extreme heat has underscored so powerfully in 2023, the world is not on track.
To cut emissions, progress is needed on national economic and fiscal policies, such as taxing pollution and ending subsidies for fossil fuels that are even higher today than before the pandemic, and on funds and commitments to speed a global energy and economic transformation. Funding for adaptation and disaster recovery is also high on the agenda.
The United Nations climate conference is underway in Dubai, and representatives from around the world will be confronting an extraordinary array of challenges over its two weeks. They carry with them some long-held – and new – grievances, and strong expectations.
Framing the agenda is a “global stocktake” – an assessment of progress toward the 2015 Paris Agreement to keep global warming in check. Unsurprisingly, as record-breaking extreme heat has underscored so powerfully in 2023, the world is not on track.
To cut emissions, progress is needed on national economic and fiscal policies, such as taxing pollution and ending subsidies for fossil fuels that are even higher today than before the pandemic, and on funds and commitments to speed a global energy and economic transformation. Funding for adaptation and disaster recovery is also high on the agenda.
The United Nations’ 2023 Emissions Gap Report shows current national plans would produce levels of greenhouse gas emissions far above the trajectories for keeping global warming under 2 degrees Celsius compared to preindustrial times. NDCs, or Nationally Determined Contributions, are countries’ pledges to reduce emissions.UN Environment Program
There is an undercurrent of deep skepticism in some quarters about the leadership of this year’s COP28 president, Sultan Ahmed al-Jaber, who also heads the United Arab Emirates’ national oil company. Recent news reports suggest the UAE may have muddled its roles by seeking oil and gas deals with countries while at the same time presiding over negotiations of when – not if – to phase out fossil fuel emissions. Al-Jaber has denied the allegation.
The Republican-controlled House approved a resolution Friday that would overturn a new Biden administration rule on automobile emissions that Republicans say would force Americans to buy unaffordable electric vehicles they don’t want
Japan and China said Friday they have reached a deal toward resolving their disputes over the discharge of treated radioactive wastewater from the tsunami-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the sea and Beijing’s ban on Japanese seafood