A tense climate summit begins against a backdrop of war and record heat

With dire warnings of planetary catastrophe and urgent pleas to protect vulnerable populations, world leaders implored each other Friday to stop burning fossil fuels and quickly reduce greenhouse gas emissions that are “dangerously warming the planet.”

At the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, a parade of dignitaries invoked faith, science and economics in calling for a rapid transition away from coal, oil and gas and toward clean energy.

“We cannot save a burning planet with a fossil fuel firehose,” said António Guterres, UN Secretary-General. “We must accelerate the just, equitable transition to renewables.”

The annual meeting, known as COP28, is nearing the end of what scientists predict will be the hottest year on record. Greenhouse gas emissions, mainly caused by the burning of fossil fuels, have now warmed the planet by about 1.2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Floods, fires, droughts and storms, exacerbated by climate change, are causing destruction around the world.

“We are taking the natural world beyond its normal balance and boundaries and into dangerously uncharted territory,” said King Charles III of Great Britain. “Our choice now is starker and darker: How dangerous are we willing to make our world?”

Yet the heads of state calling for a major overhaul of the global energy system face an existential problem for which there are no easy solutions.

As many developed countries install more wind and solar energy, global greenhouse gas emissions and demand for fossil fuels continue to rise. On its current trajectory, the planet is on track to warm at least 3 degrees Celsius, a level that scientists say will unleash extreme weather around the world and lead to sea level rise that will wipe out coastal cities.

“Unless there is a significant and radical shift in our economic and industrial patterns, we are hurtling at dangerous speed towards the dire scenario of a world three degrees Celsius warmer,” said President William Ruto of Kenya.

The persistent nature of the problem was made clear by the setting of this year’s conference. The United Arab Emirates is one of the largest oil producers in the world, and Dubai is a city built using the huge profits from crude oil exports. The president of COP28, Sultan Al Jaber, is also the head of the Emirates’ state oil company, Adnoc, an arrangement that left some people feeling disillusioned with the talks.

“Future generations will wonder if the world came together in one of the largest oil-producing countries during the hottest year on record to plan our response to the oil crisis,” said Mohamed Adow, director of Power Shift Africa. research organization participating in the conference. “If we don’t make serious progress here, they will see it as a sign of utter folly in this period of climate diplomacy.”

There were some notable absences from this year’s event. Neither President Biden of the United States nor President Xi Jinping of China attended, although Vice President Kamala Harris was added at the last minute and was scheduled to speak on Saturday. Pope Francis planned to attend but withdrew at the last minute on the advice of his doctors.

Memories of the war between Israel and Gaza underlined the speeches on a day when fighting resumed after a week-long ceasefire. Isaac Herzog, the president of Israel, and Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, were both scheduled to address attendees on Thursday, but neither spoke.

Nevertheless, other Middle Eastern heads of state used their time at the climate summit to support the Palestinians.

King Abdullah II of Jordan tried to link the war and the issue of climate change, saying that “the massive destruction of the war makes the ecological threats of water scarcity and food insecurity even more serious.”

Iraq’s President Abdul Latif Rashid also called for protection of civilians and said he supported Palestinians’ “right to self-determination.”

And President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey called Israel’s attack on Gaza a “war crime” and said “the perpetrators must be held accountable under international law.”

On social media, Mr. Herzog shared photos from the sidelines during the summit. He met world leadersincluding the The President of the EmiratesSheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, and shook hands with Qatar’s ruler, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad, whose country mediated ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas.

The divide between rich and poor countries was visible all day. While the United States and Western European countries are historically responsible for the majority of planet-warming emissions, developing countries are the ones bearing the brunt of climate change and often lack the financing to build renewable develop energy and rebuild after disasters. .

“For the past century, a small section of humanity has indiscriminately exploited nature,” said Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India. “However, all of humanity is paying the price for this, especially those living in the global south.”

Many leaders described the ways in which extreme weather is wreaking havoc in their home countries.

“In Brazil, the climate crisis is already a reality,” said Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. “The Amazon is experiencing an unprecedented drought. River levels are the lowest in 120 years. I could never have imagined this would happen in a place where we have the largest freshwater reservoir in the world.”

For years, developed countries have pledged to spend hundreds of billions of dollars to help poorer countries adapt, but those funds have been slow to come.

“We are facing yet another COP, and I am disheartened to say that most of these commitments have yet to be fulfilled,” said Wavel Ramkalawan, the president of the Seychelles, an archipelago off the coast of East Africa.

Still, there were signs that some developed countries were renewing their efforts to support poorer countries. On Thursday, delegates reached an agreement in principle on a fund that would help poor countries cope with climate disasters. And throughout the day, leaders discussed reforming the global financial system in ways that would make it easier for developing countries to borrow money to finance their efforts to fight climate change.

Over the next eleven days, negotiators from more than 170 countries will write a final agreement that must be ratified by every country present. The need for unanimous consent means that every word in the final document is scrutinized. In previous years, representatives of oil-producing countries have vetoed statements calling for a rapid phase-out of fossil fuels.

The battle over what a final agreement on fossil fuels might say was already playing out between world leaders on Friday.

Emmanuel Macron, the president of France, was one of the few Western leaders to call for an end to coal, oil and gas. He said it should be a “top priority” for developed countries to phase out fossil fuels.

And Mr. Guterres, an outspoken critic of the fossil fuel industry, pushed back on specific words he hoped negotiators would include in the final deal, saying that only averting the worst effects of climate change will be possible by eliminating the burning of fossil fuels. fuels.

“Don’t reduce. Don’t reduce,” he said. “Phase out.”

Mark Landler And Jenny Gross reporting contributed.