In his opening remarks at this year’s United Nations climate summit, which took place on Thursday, the incoming president of COP28, Sultan al-Jaber, urged nations and firms that deal in fossil fuels to collaborate to achieve global climate goals.

For the first time, governments are getting ready to engage in marathon discussions to determine whether or not they will agree to phase out the use of CO2-emitting coal, oil, and gas worldwide. These products are the primary source of warming emissions.

After months of criticism about his nomination as the head of COP28, Jaber, also the CEO of the national oil firm of the United Arab Emirates, ADNOC, attempted to strike a conciliatory tone in his speech.

The first thing that Jaber did was accept that there were “strong views about the idea of including language on fossil fuels and renewables in the negotiated text.” He then said, “I ask you to work together.”

“It is of the utmost importance that no matter be allowed to be ignored. And, as I have been saying, we need to look for methods to guarantee that the role of fossil fuels is included, and we need to do this as soon as possible.

In his speech, he praised his government’s choice to “proactively engage” with fossil fuel firms and said that several national oil companies had embraced net-zero objectives for the year 2050.

“I am grateful that they have stepped up to join this game-changing journey,” according to Jaber. “But, I must say, it is not enough, and I know that they can do much more.”

FUND FOR DISASTERS

The participants at the United Nations climate summit expected to secure an early win on a catastrophe fund when the session got underway yesterday. Late Wednesday night, the chair of the COP28 conference presented a proposal that calls on governments to formally endorse the idea of a new United Nations fund for developing nations affected by climate calamities such as catastrophic flooding or persistent drought.

An early breakthrough on the damage fund, which economically disadvantaged nations have been demanding for years, might help grease the wheels for further agreements to be reached during the two-week summit that is scheduled to take place.

Several diplomats expressed their optimism that the draft agreement for the fund would be accepted in a short amount of time. One of the delegates referred to the potential for objections at this stage as “opening Pandora’s box.” The agreement was established over several months via arduous discussions that included developed and developing nations.

According to European officials who spoke with Reuters, establishing the fund allows wealthy nations to start making financial commitments. Countries such as Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands are anticipated to make significant contributions over the next few days.

While the European Union has committed to making a “substantial” contribution, it also requests that nations whose economies have flourished in the most recent decades, such as China and the United Arab Emirates, do the same.

“Everyone who is able to pay should contribute,” said Wopke Hoekstra, the Commissioner for Climate Change of the European Union. He also stated that he wants to “broaden the donor base beyond the usual suspects, simply because that reflects the reality of 2023.”

In an interview with Reuters earlier this month, Adnan Amin, the chief executive officer of the COP28 conference, stated that the objective was to raise several hundred million United States dollars for the climate disaster fund during the event. He stated that he was “hopeful” that the United Arab Emirates would do anything to help.

“We cannot rest until this fund is adequately financed and starts to actually alleviate the burden of vulnerable communities,” said Pa’olelei Luteru, Samoa’s Ambassador to Europe. Luteru is also the chairman of the Association of Small Island States (AOSIS) negotiating bloc. Luteru is also from Samoa.

At the summit, another significant duty will be for nations to evaluate their progress in fulfilling global climate targets, the most important of which is the aim of the Paris Agreement, which is to keep the increase in global temperature to something far below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit).

This procedure, referred to as the global stocktake, is supposed to result in a high-level plan that outlines the actions that nations are required to take.