The United Arab Emirates is looking forward to welcoming the world by the end of this month at the Conference of the Parties COP28, which will be held in Expo City Dubai from November 30 to December 12. This will be the largest climate event hosted by the UAE and the most significant global conference focusing on addressing the impacts of climate change. More than 85,000 participants are expected, including heads of state and government, ministers, representatives from non-governmental organizations, the private sector, indigenous peoples, and youth.
The conference will bring together 198 countries and organizations, each with different stances, opinions, and interests. Since the resolutions and negotiation outputs must be reached by consensus, this requires intensive communication and high negotiation skills to reconcile the various views. Previous conferences have successfully identified the correct priorities for climate action; however, they faced challenges in implementing the negotiated outcomes. Therefore, the world’s attention will be on COP28 to see what results it will achieve.
With its long experience in climate work and global climate diplomacy, the UAE recognizes the importance of qualifying a new generation of Emirati youth to contribute to shaping the future of climate action at various levels. In line with the leadership's vision, the COP28 presidency has worked to prepare a negotiation team of promising talents to manage and coordinate the negotiation paths during the conference and beyond, playing a pivotal role in achieving significant progress in climate action and enhancing the country’s leading role in this field.
Team members were selected based on specific and precise criteria focusing on competence and excellence in areas related to diplomacy and climate action, communication skills, ambition, and the ability to represent the nation on international platforms. The negotiation team's experiences were refined through several specialized and integrated training programs in climate diplomacy and international communication, including the Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy, alongside attending and participating in international conferences and meetings related to climate work.
Throughout the preparatory year for the conference, the UAE negotiation team participated under the supervision and support of the COP28 presidency in a proactive global round to listen, communicate, and fact-find, preparing the presidency's work plan and setting clear objectives for the negotiation paths.
The UAE negotiation team will manage and coordinate the negotiation paths in COP28 with the aim of achieving an effective response to the results of the "Global Stocktake" of the Paris Agreement, which indicated that the world is far from being on track to keep the temperature rise below 1.5 degrees Celsius. The team will work to provide tangible solutions to challenges through effective actions that align with the four pillars of the conference's work plan: facilitating an organized, responsible, and equitable transition in the energy sector, developing climate finance mechanisms, protecting people and nature, improving lives and livelihoods, and fully engaging everyone within the conference's operational framework.
During the conference, the negotiation team will focus on achieving common international consensus for an effective global response to the Global Stocktake results, which includes delivering meaningful outcomes in mitigation, reaching a comprehensive agreement on adaptation, and pioneering financing solutions, including activating the Loss and Damage Fund and its financing arrangements, fulfilling commitments made at COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh, and doubling adaptation finance, which includes making pledges to the designated fund for this purpose. They aim for a qualitative leap in international financing institutions and to build and enhance carbon markets while mobilizing and incentivizing private sector investments to raise climate finance from billions to trillions.
It is noteworthy that the UAE aims for COP28 to be an exceptional edition of the conferences of the parties, inclusively involving everyone and establishing the UAE's role in building a better future for humanity and the planet amidst a world suffering from multiple divisions and tensions, thereby enhancing Emirati diplomacy and fostering international consensus on climate action outcomes.
