Ahead of COP28, climate seems conducive to collaborative efforts

In the run-up to COP28, the UAE is one of the few countries that is compliant with the demands of the Paris Agreement.

Everybody wants to go to Dubai. Pope Francis will be in the emirate from December 1 to 3 to speak at the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference, which opens on the day before his arrival. This is the first time any pope will attend a UN environment summit.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to Dubai to deliver India’s “national statement” at the two-day World Climate Action Summit (WCAS) which will take place on December 1 and 2. Modi has told leaders of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) that he will attend the WCAS, although his visit is yet to be formally announced.

At the time of writing, more than 100 heads of state or government have communicated to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) their intention to attend its 28^th Conference of the Parties on Climate Change, commonly known to the world as COP28. The conference will be held in Dubai’s brand-new Expo City from November 30 to December 12.

UAE: From Expo 2020 To COP28

When Dubai hosted the first World Expo to be held in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia region by its popular name of Expo 2020, the emirate attracted 24.1 million visitors over the six months of the exhibition’s duration. Indians ranked first in the number of visitors because, in addition to the Expo’s many attractions, traveling to Dubai for them is like taking a domestic flight in terms of distance and flying time. At least half the members of Modi’s Council of Ministers took part in events at the India Pavilion at Expo 2020.

Thousands of global leaders from 192 participating countries including kings, presidents, prime ministers, cabinet members and other dignitaries flew into the UAE to celebrate their country’s participation in the World Expo, said Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, the UAE’s Commissioner-General of Expo 2020, at the conclusion of the event. The World Expo has been held every five years in a different part of the world since 1851.

By hosting COP28 the way the UAE is going about it, three things stand out. The Gulf country is looking well beyond the fortnight-long conference. At the same time, it is enhancing its national vision as a cradle of tolerance and as the bedrock of global business linking Asia with Africa and Europe.

In the run-up to COP28, the UAE is one of the few countries that is compliant with the demands of the Paris Agreement. India is another, exceeding some targets, but seeking more time with other deadlines. The Paris Agreement, the first legally binding international treaty on climate change, was accepted by 196 parties at the historic COP21 in 2015.

A turning point in aligning the UAE’s vision of tolerance with environmental causes came on October 11 when Sultan bin Ahmed Al Jaber, the president-designate of COP28, met Pope Francis at the Vatican. Soon after this meeting, Francis decided that he would accept the invitation and be the first pontiff to attend a COP. A formal announcement was made by the Vatican only last weekend.

In February 2019, Francis and Ahmad Al-Tayyeb, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Al Sharif, stood together in the UAE and made a historic declaration codified and signed by both the religious leaders called “Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together.” Al-Azhar Al Sharif is Egypt’s biggest religious institution. After signing the document, the Arabian peninsula’s first ever Papal Mass was attended by a crowd of 180,000 people – including several thousand Muslims – at the Zayed Sports City Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

India And The UAE

Al Jaber met Modi on July 15 when the Prime Minister was in Abu Dhabi and briefed him extensively on the UAE's approach to COP28. Thereafter, Modi and UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan issued a joint statement on climate change, making the emirate the only country with which India has issued a joint statement specifically devoted to climate change.

If anyone had doubts about the two countries working together on controversies that have dogged previous climate summits, the joint statement unequivocally declared: “The UAE and India are united in their determination to ensure a successful outcome at COP28 as an inclusive and action-oriented conference that creates a new momentum for effective climate action and international cooperation to advance the goals of the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement.”

Although India’s presidency of the Group of Twenty (G20) is ending, the UAE wants continued G20 support on Abu Dhabi’s climate actions via India’s continued membership of the G20 troika for another year until Al Jaber hands over the COP baton to his successor this time next year. That is why Al Jaber spoke forcefully last week at a special forum in Abu Dhabi on the theme “From G20 to COP28.”

He said India and the UAE shared a “vision for embracing energy transition in line with sustainable socio-economic development.” The incoming global czar on environment issues can be counted on in matters that concern India most on containing global warming.

Climate finance from rich nations to ensure a fair and inclusive global energy transition is one such. “Unmet promises like the $100-billion pledge must be fulfilled. The Green Climate Fund must be fully replenished. Adaptation finance must be doubled. The fund for loss and damage must be fully operationalised at COP28,” Al Jaber said at the special forum. With only 10 days to go before the climate change conference opens, India has put its eggs in the right basket.

KP Nayar has extensively covered West Asia and reported from Washington as a foreign correspondent for 15 years. Views are personal, and do not represent the stand of this publication.