The UN climate conference opened on Thursday with nations urged to increase the pace of cuts to planet-warming emissions and to eliminate the use of fossil fuels. There is skepticism due to the oil-rich United Arab Emirates hosting the talks. The two-week-long negotiations in Dubai are taking place as emissions continue to rise and the UN predicts this year to be the hottest in human history.
More than 97,000 people, including world leaders, Britain’s King Charles III, and activists, are attending the climate conference in Dubai. It is double the size of last year’s conference and is being billed as the largest-ever climate gathering.
The conference is focused on addressing climate action and making progress on curbing global warming. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for a complete “phaseout” of fossil fuels, a proposal that is opposed by some powerful nations. One focus will be a stocktake of the world’s limited progress on curbing global warming.
The UAE sees itself as a bridge between rich developed nations and the rest of the world, but the decision for it to host has attracted criticism, especially as the person appointed to steer the talks is also head of the UAE state oil giant ADNOC.
Nations will navigate a range of thorny issues, and experts say that geopolitical tensions and building trust could be a huge challenge during the conference. Neither US President Joe Biden nor Chinese President Xi Jinping are attending, but the US and China did make a rare joint announcement on climate action ahead of the talks.