COP28 may well be the most important annual meeting in the fight against climate change, bringing together (almost) all the political leaders in the world, but when it collides with current geopolitical conflicts, international unity is even harder to maintain.
In the midst of the resurgence of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and while the truce between Israel and Hamas gave way this Friday, Iran was the first state to draw its weapon. This Friday morning, Iranian representatives left Dubai and COP28 to protest against the presence of an Israeli delegation. According to the head of the Iranian delegation, Energy Minister Ali Akbar Mehrabian, Israel’s presence at the climate conference is considered “contrary to the objectives and guidelines of the conference.”
An expected decision for Hamas’ main ally in the Middle East: already yesterday, the official Iranian press agency Irna had indicated that Iranian President Ebrahim Raïssi “is not participating in the UN meeting on change climate” due to “the invitation of officials of the Zionist regime”. Finally, in a telephone interview with his Emirati counterpart, the Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs regretted this week “the presence” at the COP “of those responsible for the occupation regime with regard to war crimes and genocide” perpetrated by “the Zionist regime”, the expression by which Israel is described.
“Lukachenko is not part of our family”
The presence of a Russian delegation at COP28 also raises questions, while this week, several European countries (Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine) decided to boycott an OSCE meeting due to the presence of the head of Russian diplomacy Sergei Lavrov.
Vladimir Putin, unsurprisingly absent, is his main ally present in Dubai, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who has been the target of criticism from the same small group of Eastern European countries. This Friday, the heads of state of Lithuania, Latvia and Poland, allies of Ukraine, refused to pose in a family photo of world leaders present at COP28, due to the presence of the Belarusian president. These three European countries accuse the Minsk authorities in particular of orchestrating an influx of migrants towards the European Union, in an attempt to destabilize the region.
“We call it a family photo, Lukashenko is not part of our family,” Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said in a statement sent to AFP, adding that “it would be hypocritical to stand side by side with the leader of a country that has become a rear base for Russian aggression against Ukraine and discussing the future of the world and climate change as if nothing had happened.
A summit under high diplomatic tension
For his part, Emmanuel Macron also intended to seize the opportunity of this COP28 to increase the number of diplomatic meetings around the crisis in Gaza, with a very dense program of meetings. The French president was thus able to meet this Friday morning, on the sidelines of the climate conference, his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sissi, and also spoke with the Israeli head of state Isaac Herzog.
On the other hand, a meeting initially planned with several Arab leaders simultaneously could not be held. Likewise, a bilateral meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, announced for Friday, did not take place, in the absence of the leader of the oil kingdom. Finally, the French head of state must go to Qatar this Saturday, which is continuing its mediation efforts to promote a resumption of the truce and the release of hostages.
This choice to use COP28 as a geopolitical opportunity will in any case not have been made by Joe Biden, who was largely absent in Dubai, with Chinese President Xi Jinping. For the first climate conference missed by the American president since his election, no official explanation was given by the White House. A senior American official, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, nevertheless affirmed that American Vice-President Kamala Harris, present in Qatar for the COP, would hold discussions in Dubai on the conflict between Israel and Hamas. It remains to be seen whether the climate issue does not risk being overridden by the geopolitical context.