The latest round of U.N. climate talks, known as COP28, gets underway this week in Dubai, with many of the parties looking for concrete pledges to combat the damaging effects of climate change. It's a trend that's been seen since the 2015 Paris Agreement to curb warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, where progress is yet to be made despite many workshops, gatherings and conferences. Greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide even reached new record highs in 2022, while increasing temperatures, a loss of biodiversity and extreme weather events like floods and hurricanes have set off many environmental alarm bells.

Snapshot: Many scientists now say that 2023 is "virtually certain" to be the hottest year ever in recorded history. It doesn't help that regional wars are sparking fears about energy security at the same time that fossil fuel manufacturing usage is being outsourced to developing nations, where deregulation of environmental protections has been used to advance their economies. This can even be seen among countries that are powering the green revolution, like nickel smelting for EV batteries, with further criticism being leveled at the sustainable commitments of some of the world's most profitable companies.

Meanwhile, a backlash against Dr. Sultan Al Jaber erupted as soon as the head of ADNOC, the state-owned oil company of the United Arab Emirates, was appointed president of the COP28. The climate talks this year are also taking place in the UAE, a hydrocarbon heavyweight within OPEC that plans to raise its oil production capacity to 5M barrels per day by 2027. Others argue that is the type of leadership needed to pursue this type of agenda, and can help other fossil fuel leaders enter the climate conversation to transition the globe to a low-carbon economy. The UAE maintains strategic ties ranging from the United States and the European Union to China and Russia.

"Everyone needs to be part of this process and everyone needs to be held responsible and accountable," Al Jaber declared in a recent interview. "That includes all industries and in particular heavy emitting industries like aviation, transportation, aluminum, cement, steel, as well as the oil and gas industry. We need to provide the necessary insurance and the hedging mechanisms to protect the private sector, and incentivize them to come on board to help fix the climate finance challenge. Everyone must be consulted. Everyone must be given the opportunity to contribute."

What to watch: There will be some notable absences at the COP28, including President Biden, who has championed a climate agenda and his signature Inflation Reduction Act that granted $369B in American clean energy subsidies and tax breaks. China's Xi Jinping will also be missing, meaning both leaders of the world's largest greenhouse gas emitters will be absent on the global stage. Like past summits, negotiations at the COP28 will ultimately boil down to questions of fairness and trust, as well as accountability and enforcement mechanisms. Another topic that could also derail the talks are climate reparations, or "loss and damage" payments, to countries that cannot afford to defend themselves against climate risks.

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