The Know Daily - Thursday 30 November 2023

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Norway is getting a new national park - and it’s located right next to the country’s capital, Oslo. The establishment of Østmarka National Park comes “after more than a decade of political wrangling”, said Life in Norway - and conservationists have celebrated the decision to give the area’s forests and lakes greater protection. 

🌍 COP28 kicks off 

The UN COP28 climate summit begins today in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Here’s what you need to know. 

Who’s going?
World leaders, including PM Rishi Sunak, are expected to attend and make speeches. “Around 70,000 campaigners, business chiefs, lobby groups and indigenous communities will also be there,” said Sky News. Neither China’s President Xi Jinping nor US President Joe Biden are planning to make an appearance. 

Who else should I know about?
The COP28 president is Sultan Al Jaber, who will lead talks on behalf of the host country. Al Jaber has himself admitted he “wasn’t the obvious choice” for the role, given that he is also the head of the UAE’s national oil company. However, he has insisted his position will help him to engage businesses and other oil producers.

What’s on the agenda?
The “main task” at COP28 is assessing countries’ progress towards meeting the 2015 Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting the global temperature rise to “well below” 2C, said Reuters.

In an interview with The Guardian on the eve of the talks, Al Jaber said he was “cautiously optimistic” that a deal to limit global temperature rises to 1.5C is within reach.

What are the other key talking points?
Finance is set to be “at the heart” of COP28, said Euronews, “with economists saying that around $1 trillion per year is needed to support developing countries in their fight against climate change”.

The question of a “loss and damage” fund - which would see the world’s wealthiest nations provide support to countries most affected by climate change - dominated last year’s summit in Cairo, Egypt.

And while countries at COP28 are “likely to adopt” the consensus proposal already reached by negotiators, “any country could choose to reopen the issue”, pointed out New Scientist. The EU has already pledged to make a “substantial” contribution to the fund.

Anything else I should know? 
Earlier this week, a BBC investigation revealed the UAE planned to use its role as the host of UN climate talks as an opportunity to strike oil and gas deals, with leaked briefing documents revealing plans to discuss fossil fuel deals with 15 nations.

The UAE team did not deny using COP28 meetings for business talks, but declined to comment on what was discussed and said its work has been focused on “meaningful climate action”.