Jump to navigation

Vol 64 No 25

Published 14th December 2023


The 28th UN Conference of the Parties Climate Summit – a users' guide

How to navigate the facts, the figures and the declarations | By Tim Concannon and Jerry Sam in Accra and Caroline Chebet in Nairobi

The UN's COP summits are a marathon – even by the standards of other international summits organised by the UN, the IMF and sundry regional organisations.

This year's summit – COP28 in Dubai – is already an epic in terms of the over 90,000 people that have registered as delegates.

It opened on 30 November and is due to run until at least midnight on 16 December when the hosts, the United Arab Emirates, will release the final communiqué and roster of financial pledges and declarations of policy actions from the nearly 200 nations participating.

This dossier offers a point by point guide to the key issues under discussion – from the debate over the Loss and Damage Fund and the need for a global carbon tax to whether the final declaration will include an agreement to 'phase-down'  (as the hydrocarbon economies want) or 'phase out' (as the climate activists want) of fossil fuel production.

For a detailed guide to the facts, the figures and the declarations, read our Special Report here: The 28th UN Conference of the Parties Climate Summit – a users' guide




Related Articles

The oil economy breaks up

The architects of industry reform bid a long goodbye to oil and welcome the brave new world of gas for all

Energy companies, trades unions and politicians are beginning to get to grips with the prospect of wide-ranging reform of the oil and gas industry, the foundation of the...


Key points from Copenhagen

At the United Nations’ climate change summit in Copenhagen in December 2009, African governments won a victory by stopping attempts by the West to kill off the Kyoto...


Nairobi vies for green capital status

William Ruto advances his own, and Kenya's interests, but fails to pull in much climate finance from industrial economies

Having spent much of the first year of his presidency staking out the ground as one of Africa's leading voices on climate change and energy policy, Kenya's William...


Finance and energy access come first

The IMF, World Bank and G20 face growing pressure to raise funds for climate goals ahead of the UN COP28 summit in Dubai

Arguments over emissions cuts, climate finance and developing economies' access to energy are set to dominate the UN COP28 Climate summit in Dubai in November. Despite sharpening geopolitical...