what to remember from the start of COP28 – L’Express

The debates must once again focus on the question of reducing or even phasing out fossil fuels, but also the development of renewable energies, while the climate conference is due to close on December 12. Other initial commitments have already been adopted, notably the implementation of the fund on “loss and damage” in vulnerable countries, a source of strong tensions between the North and the South. L’Express looks back at the main highlights of the start of this COP28.

This is a basis for discussion, which may still be difficult. A first version of a draft agreement was published this Friday, in which it is mentioned that the world must reduce or even get rid of fossil fuels. This project must now be debated and then adopted by negotiators from the nearly 200 countries present at COP28.

The challenge will therefore be to agree on the semantic choice between the term “reduction” or the much more ambitious term “exit” from fossil fuels. This Friday did not really allow the debates to move forward, with most heads of state and government content to repeat their existing commitments on the climate – almost none of which are in line with the agreement of Paris – without opponents of an exit from fossil fuels announcing an about-face.

Emmanuel Macron spoke on this subject this Friday, urging the G7 countries to “commit to ending coal” before 2030 to “set an example”. From the podium, the French president described the continuation of investments in favor of coal throughout the world as “real absurdity”, and called for an “absolute shift” to get out of it.

In parallel with the issue of fossil fuels, more than 110 countries have declared themselves in favor of COP28 adopting the objective of tripling renewable energies and doubling energy efficiency by 2030, declared this Friday in Dubai President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen.

The European Union launched an appeal in the spring to this effect, supported by the Emirati presidency of COP28 then successively taken up by the G7 and G20 countries, which alone account for 80% of global greenhouse gas emissions. tight.

COP28 could not escape the very tense international context, notably marked by the resumption of fighting between Israel and Hamas this Friday.

The Iranian delegation announced that it was leaving Dubai this Friday, in order to protest against Israel’s presence at the event. For their part, the Lithuanian, Latvian and Polish heads of state refused to participate in the large family photo of world leaders present at COP28 due to the presence of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, an ally of Vladimir Putin.

COP28 opened positively this Thursday in Dubai, with the much-awaited realization of a fund to compensate for climate losses and damage in vulnerable countries.

This must ensure that the most developed financially help the countries most affected and least equipped to fight against climate change. The text was adopted last year at COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, but its contours were not then defined. The first promises since Thursday reach around 700 million dollars, after the announcement on Friday of a contribution of 100 million euros from Italy and another from France, which could conditionally reach the same amount.

It may offer hope of easing the tensions between the North and the South concerning the means of combating climate change, which have been particularly significant at climate conferences in recent years.

More than 130 countries have committed to prioritizing food and agriculture in their national plans to combat climate change, the presidency of the 28th United Nations climate conference announced on Friday, as Food systems are responsible for about a third of human-produced greenhouse gases.

In total, 134 countries, which according to the presidency of the COP ensured by the United Arab Emirates produce 70% of the food consumed in the world, have signed this declaration. These include the United States, the European Union, China and Brazil.