Dubai Climate Conference Opens With Focus on Renewables, Fossil Fuels, and Finance |
This year’s UN Climate Conference—the twenty-eighth Conference of the Parties, or COP28—kicked off today (WaPo) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), with the establishment of a “loss and damage” fund for countries hit hardest by the effects of climate change. COP28 marks the largest-ever summit against the backdrop of the world’s hottest-ever year. It is also the first such summit led by the CEO of an oil company, which has increased activist scrutiny over the fossil fuel industry’s role in the global energy transition. COP28 President Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber says the UAE’s work on rallying countries around new commitments to increase renewable energy capacity and establishing loss and damage funding for the developing world will speak for itself, and called today’s fund establishment the first time a COP has adopted a decision on its first day. What is less certain (FT) is whether the summit will reach an agreement on phasing down or phasing out fossil fuels.
World leaders and senior officials will give speeches (NYT) on the conference’s opening days, including U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris. The conference will also officially conclude the first “stocktake” on global progress toward reducing emissions to meet the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement. This mechanism is designed to increase the ambition of countries’ individual climate pledges. While the Paris Agreement promised to limit global warming to well below 1.5°C (2.7°F) above preindustrial levels, this year the world is set to hit around (Reuters) 1.4°C (2.5°F) warming, the World Meteorological Organization said today.
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“As phasing down global use of fossil fuels would do more than anything else to help close the gap between what science requires and what nations have done thus far, COP28 seems likely to provide the first real global debate about the future of fossil fuels,” Climate Advisers’ Nigel Purvis writes for Foreign Policy.
“Stopping climate change requires that emissions plummet to nearly zero rather than just dip. That is ‘deep decarbonization,’ and it will require bigger, more disruptive, and riskier transformations in energy and industrial systems,” McKinsey’s Kassia Yanosek and the University of California, San Diego’s David G. Victor write for Foreign Affairs.
This In Brief by CFR’s Clara Fong lays out what to expect at COP28.
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Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger Dies at 100 |
Henry Kissinger shaped U.S. foreign policy (NYT) at the height of the Cold War and far beyond, advising twelve U.S. presidents and continuing to write about foreign policy into the last months of his life. Among other acts, he remodeled U.S. relations with the Soviet Union, helped engineer the opening to China, and shared a Nobel Peace Prize for negotiating the U.S. exit from Vietnam.
Kissinger’s strategic analysis included many publications in Foreign Affairs and appearances at CFR events over the years. |
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Chinese Hospitals Experience Surge in Child Respiratory Illnesses |
Authorities have attributed the cases to the beginning of the first flu season since COVID-19 pandemic restrictions were lifted, The Guardian reports. The Beijing Children’s Hospital has recorded more than nine thousand patients per day during the past two months.
North Korea: Senior official Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, rejected U.S. calls (AP) for a return to nuclear diplomacy and vowed to conduct more satellite and weapons launches. |
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U.S. Indictment Details Indian Official’s Role in Plot to Kill Sikh Activist on U.S. Soil |
An Indian official worked with indicted Indian national Nikhil Gupta to attempt to hire a hitman (AP) to kill a Sikh separatist leader living in New York, according to charges unsealed yesterday by the Department of Justice. The U.S. government set up a sting operation and the man that Gupta attempted to recruit, unbeknownst to him, was an undercover U.S. agent. The Indian official was not charged or named in the indictment. India says it has also set up a high-level inquiry of the case.
Nepal: The first-ever same-sex marriage was registered (BBC) in Nepal yesterday, five months after the country’s top court issued an interim order allowing such registration. Activists hailed the registration as a victory for LGBTQ+ rights progress; Taiwan is the only other place in Asia that has legalized same-sex marriage.
This Backgrounder compares marriage equality around the world.
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Middle East and North Africa |
Israel, Hamas Extend Truce for Additional Day |
Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas agreed to prolong their pause (NYT) in fighting for an additional day, only minutes before it was set to expire this morning. The United States has advocated for the extension, and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Israel today for talks with officials. U.S. President Joe Biden posted yesterday on X, formerly Twitter, that a continuation of fighting would “give Hamas what they seek.”
Iran/Saudi Arabia: Saudi Arabia has promised Iran increased investment in its sanctions-stricken economy in exchange for reigning in Tehran’s proxies so that the Israel-Hamas war does not spread regionally, Bloomberg reported.
This article by CFR’s Kali Robinson looks at Iran’s regional armed network.
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Biden Hosts Angolan Leader at White House |
President Biden and Angolan President João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço are due to mark thirty years of diplomatic relations today. The two leaders will discuss plans for U.S. investment in the Lobito infrastructure corridor connecting Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Zambia to global markets, the White House said.
Sudan: Both the Sudanese army and rebel paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces battling in the country’s civil war that began in April have forcibly recruited civilians and even some refugees to fight, the Washington Post reported.
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Ukraine’s Zelenskyy Says Cease-Fire Talks Are Impossible Without Full Russian Withdrawal |
Speaking to reporters, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that cease-fire negotiations with Russia can only begin (Nikkei) once Russia’s military fully withdraws from Ukrainian territory. Though the war’s apparent stalemate has prompted calls for cease-fire talks, Zelenksyy pointed to the failure of the 2015 Minsk agreement to halt further Russian aggression.
Armenia/Azerbaijan: The two countries revived stalled talks (AFP) over their shared border today, weeks after Azerbaijan refused to participate over objections to U.S. and European mediation, alleging their bias toward Armenia. In September, Azerbaijan recaptured the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh from ethnic Armenian separatists, prompting more than one hundred thousand people to flee in a matter of days.
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Argentina’s Libertarian President-Elect Names Moderate Finance Minister |
President-Elect Javier Milei picked Luis Caputo (FT), a former finance minister in a center-right government. Caputo is known for his close ties with Argentina’s banking sector and Wall Street; he does not share Milei’s enthusiasm for dollarizing Argentina’s economy.
Canada: Tech giant Google agreed to pay Canadian media (NYT) more than $73 million per year to use their content on its search platforms as part of a legal settlement. |
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