The world for the first time on Dec 13 approved a call to transition away from fossil fuels as United Nations negotiations in Dubai tackled the top culprit behind climate change, but at-risk countries said far more action was needed. After 13 days of talks and another sleepless night in a country built on oil wealth, the Emirati president of the COP28 summit quickly banged a gavel to signal consensus among 194 countries and the European Union.
“You did step up, you showed flexibility, you put common interest ahead of self-interest,” said COP28 president Sultan Al Jaber, whose role as head of the United Arab Emirates’ national oil company raised suspicion among many environmentalists. Describing the deal as bringing “transformational change”, Dr Jaber said: “We have helped restore faith and trust in multilateralism, and we have shown that humanity can come togethe