UAE is a young country and it wants to make a mark on the global stage. It doesn't want to be seen as the country that shoves us all into a climate related disaster. UAE's own ruler has actually said that they would celebrate the last barrel of oil produced by the country. So Solzhen Algebra has quite a big job ahead of him, particularly as people will be going into this skeptically. What do you think his priorities are? He's determined to make this a good COP.
Every year, the world’s leaders gather for the UN climate change conference. At Cop28, they will be faced with two stark warnings from scientists: we are likely to breach 1.5C warming above pre-industrial levels in the next five years, and we are on course to reach 2.7C of warming by the end of the century. Progress has never been more critical and this year it lies in the hands of the United Arab Emirates, a country that has plans to expand its already extensive oil and gas productions. With six months to go, Madeleine Finlay talks to environment correspondent Fiona Harvey about Cop28’s hosts and president, why this year is particularly key, and how close we are getting to irreversible climate tipping points. Help support our independent journalism at
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