Highlights from U.N.’s COP28 in Dubai (Mon, Dec. 4th)

(Dubai, U.A.E.) Highlights from today and this weekend at the United Nations’ COP28 in Dubai: the UAE pledged $270 billion in green finance, Bill Gates and ENEC reached a nuclear reactor deal, President Sultan Al-Jaber Said ‘No Science’ Behind Fossil Fuels Phase-Out, U.S. Pledged $3 Billion for Green Climate Fund, John Kerry Announced New Carbon Credit Initiative, 22 nations signed on to Net-Zero Nuclear Energy initiative, and more.

Photo of Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber at COP28 courtesy of Hollie Adams/Bloomberg.

— The United Arab Emirates, the host of this year’s conference, pledged $270 billion in green finance by 2030 through its banks today. Leaders of the region’s biggest economy and the world’s biggest oil producer Saudi Arabia have so far not attended the U.N. summit, despite their participation last year at COP27.

— Bill Gates’ advanced nuclear reactor company TerraPower LLC and the United Arab Emirates’ state owned nuclear company ENEC said today (Monday, Dec. 4th) that they have agreed to study the potential development of advanced reactors in the UAE and abroad. The news comes amid a push by the UAE to expand its nuclear energy capacity and a pledge by over 20 nations at the COP28 conference to triple nuclear deployment this decade to fight climate change.

— COP28 President Sultan al-Jaber, the Chief Executive Officer of Abu Dhabi National Oil Co., is facing backlash over his comment that there is “no science” behind calls for a phase out of fossil fuels, as reported on Sunday, Dec. 3 by The Guardian and the Centre for Climate Reporting. Al-Jaber reportedly said that a fossil fuel phase out would not allow sustainable development “unless you want to take the world back into caves.” Separately, a spokesperson for COP28 told CNBC that al-Jaber has been “unwavering” in saying that keeping global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius involves action across a number of areas and sectors.

— On Sunday, President Biden’s Climate Envoy John Kerry announced a new carbon credit initiative whereby more than a dozen major companies – including Walmart, Pepsi and McDonalds – will help developing countries pivot away from fossil fuels toward renewable energy.

— Bill Gates said that the world probably won’t meet the Paris Agreement’s goal of keeping temperature rises below 2 degrees Celsius, but he noted that “climate progress is moving ahead even though we won’t meet our highest aspirations” in a Bloomberg TV interview yesterday in Dubai.

— On Saturday, Dec. 2, Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber announced that 50 oil and gas companies worldwide, including Exxon Mobile Corporation and Saudi Arabia’s Saudi Aramco, have pledged to stem releases of methane by shoring up leaky methane systems by 2030. The move aims to reduce emissions of the potent gas and forestall climate change effects, hoping to reduce methane leaks to “near zero” by 2030.

— Also on Saturday, Dec. 2, United States Vice President Kamala Harris pledged $3 billion for the Green Climate Fund, but Biden administration officials have acknowledged that it will be a struggle to persuade Congress to approve the money. On the same day, the European Union said it would invest $2.5 billion in the green transition overseas, and the UAE committed to contributing $100 million to methane-reduction efforts.

— Also on Dec. 2nd, 22 nations signed onto the newly launched Net-Zero Nuclear Initiative, collectively pledging to tripe their nuclear energy capacity by 2050. Endorsing countries include the United States, Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Ghana, Hungary, Japan, Republic oKorea, Moldova, Mongolia, Morocco, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, and United Kingdom.

— Dec. 2nd was the first-ever Health Day at a COP; 40 million health professionals from around the globe joined a call to action by the World Health Organization (WHO) and various civil society organizations to prioritize health in climate negotiations at COP28. Health workers are specifically demanding action to phase out fossil fuels, transition to clean energy, build resilience and support people and communities most vulnerable to impacts of a changing climate.