Countries hoping to garner some political goodwill before talks turn to contentious topics like the future of fossil fuels, are attending the UN’s COP28 climate summit, which opens on Thursday. They hope to reach an early agreement on a new fund to pay for damage caused by climate change.
As the 70,000 delegates have arrived to attend COP28 in the glittering Emirati city of Dubai, governments are gearing up for intense talks on whether to finally agree to phase out the world’s use of coal, oil, and gas that emit CO2 emissions.
The primary driver of climate change is the burning of these fuels.
On the eve of the summit, the United Arab Emirates’ COP28 presidency released a proposal, with finance ranking highly on the agenda, for nations to approve a new United Nations climate damage fund, giving some delegates hope that this would be one of the first agreements made in Dubai.
This year, during months of intense negotiations, representatives from developed and developing nations painstakingly crafted a draft deal that would establish a fund to assist vulnerable nations in bearing the financial burden of climate-related damage from droughts, floods, and rising sea levels.
The fund’s creation would make it possible for wealthy nations to contribute money to it; European diplomats told Reuters that early in the COP, leaders of countries like Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands are expected to announce their contributions.
