Climate Talks Ahead of COP28 Raise Concerns of Weak Outcome
Familiar fights over emissions cuts and climate financing left some negotiators worried about progress before the year-end UN summit in Dubai.
Participants at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bonn, Germany on June 8.
Photographer: Martin Meissner/APDiplomats pushing for stronger climate action walked away from a two-week preparatory meeting for COP28 disappointed by inter-country bickering and what some said was a lack of ambition from the United Arab Emirates, this year’s host nation.
Negotiators from Europe and climate-vulnerable nations were looking for two things at the Bonn Climate Change Conference in Germany: A spot on the agenda to discuss accelerating emissions cuts and a clear message from the UAE on how it would go beyond promises made at past COP gatherings. The outcome of the talks, which ended on Thursday, raised concerns that efforts to slash carbon emissions and boost financing for developing nations will fail to progress this year, according to interviews with more than a dozen delegates.