From the first-ever health day at a COP to climate finance for countries facing conflict, here's what happened in Dubai today.
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Welcome to our coverage of COP28 from Dubai. Stay tuned for the latest updates from the UN climate conference.
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That's all from Euronews Green at COP28 today, thanks for joining us!
Here's a quick wrap on what happened today before we sign off.
Pope Francis and the Grand Imam came together to call for urgent climate action. Though the Pope was too unwell to visit Dubai, a video message from him was played at the inauguration of the first-ever Faith Pavillion.
In another first, today was the first time there has been a dedicated day for health at a COP. Many have used the day to emphasise the undeniable link between health and climate change from heat causing tropical diseases to spread to the damage done by air pollution.
“Climate change doesn’t need to be on a death certificate for us to be confident that climate change is causing deaths,” Diarmid Campbell-Lendrum, WHO’s head of climate and health, said.
With peace also the theme of the day, there were a number of protests at the UN climate conference including a call for a ceasefire in Gaza. Protests are an unusual sight in the UAE and are only allowed inside the climate conference under very strict guidelines.
Countries also recognised the need to boost financial support for climate resilience in war-torn and fragile settings. Global peacebuilding charity International Alert says it is a big step in the right direction but conflict and climate change need to become a regular part of global climate talks.
If you are looking for a reminder of what this is all about and why you should care, check out our COP28 explainer before you go. And we'll see tomorrow for more from the team here in Dubai.
COP28 Peace declaration is a 'big step in the right direction' - but more still needed
Around 70 countries and 39 organisations have backed a declaration which focuses on boosting financial support for climate resilience in war-torn and fragile settings.
Called the 'Declaration on Climate, Relief, Recovery and Peace', it calls for enhanced financial support for climate adaptation and resilience in these places.
Nic Hailey, executive director of International Alert, says there is a clear link between climate breakdown and conflict.
"Yet the countries and communities most affected by this double crisis are often least able to access international funding."
"Climate finance can and should provide an opportunity to unite communities facing a shared existential challenge," Hailey says.
He adds that the declaration is a "big step in the right direction" but there needs to be more than just a commitment to discuss conflict and climate change again at COP29.
"This needs to become a regular part of global climate negotiations."
More people than ever protected by early warning systems - but there's still a long way to go
The number of countries protected from extreme weather by early warning systems has doubled since 2015.
As of March 2023, 101 have some kind of early warning system in place - six more than last year - according to a new UN report.
Last year, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for every person on earth to be protected by early warning systems within five years.
Despite the promising numbers, there's still a long way to go if that goal is to be met. Half of all countries still don't have adequate systems.
Guterres called for the speed and scale of support for warning systems to double in 2024.
"For us to make it a reality, we need all hands on deck rowing in the same direction - collaborating and cooperating in a way that we have not done before," he said
At the launch of the report today, funding for early warning systems was announced -€5.3 million from Sweden, €5.4 million from Denmark and an additional €8 million a year from France.
Protestors at COP28 risk a lifetime ban from the UAE
In the lead up to the talks, many have wondered how much protest would be allowed in the autocratic United Arab Emirates. The UAE, a federation of seven sheikhdoms led by Abu Dhabi’s ruler, bans political parties and unions. All power rests in each emirate’s hereditary ruler. Broad laws tightly restrict speech and nearly all major local media are either state-owned or state-affiliated outlets. Laws also criminalize the very few protests that take place by foreign labourers over working conditions and unpaid salaries, which can see them get partial settlements but then be promptly deported.
However, the UN and the UAE agreed before COP28 that free expression would be allowed. Activists described a process of having to seek approvals with organisers for their demonstrations. Many have acknowledged that they may never be allowed back into the UAE.
With today's focus on health, it is difficult to ignore the literal haze hanging over COP28.
Levels of PM2.5 pollution reached 155 micrograms per cubic metre today - a level classified as "unhealthy" - according to WAQI.info, a tool for monitoring pollution in real-time. This fine particle pollution is the most harmful as it can enter the bloodstream.
The first few days of COP28 have been pretty hazy in the city with the tops of the city's buildings obscured by the fog. It's been tough going for anyone sensitive to high levels of particulate pollution.
Italian PM's selfie goes viral
In her speech at the climate talks, Meloni stated that "Africa does not need charity" in its fight against climate change, but stressed that "Italy intends to direct an extremely significant share of the Italian Climate Fund" to the African continent.
The Italian PM also voiced that Italy was committed to supporting the Green Climate Fund and would contribute "100 million euros to the new loss and damage fund."
Why has COP never had a Health Day before?
World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said today couldn't come soon enough, calling the threats to health from climate change were “immediate and present.”
“Although the climate crisis is a health crisis, it’s well overdue that 27 COPs have been and gone without a serious discussion of health,” he said. “Undoubtedly, health stands as the most compelling reason for taking climate action.”
John Kerry, the US climate envoy, said it was “astonishing” to him that it’s taken so long for health to become a centerpiece of the climate discussion.
“Our bodies are ecosystems, and the world is an ecosystem,” Kerry said. “If you poison our land and you poison our water and you poison our air, you poison our bodies.”
He said his daughter Vanessa, who works with Tedros, “repeats to me frequently that we should not measure progress on the climate crisis just by the degrees averted, but by the lives saved.”
A COP28 declaration backed by some 120 countries stressed the link between health and climate change. It made no mention of phasing out planet-warming fossil fuels, but pledged to support efforts to curb health care sector pollution, which accounts for 5% of global emissions, according to the WHO head.
Diarmid Campbell-Lendrum, head of climate and health at WHO, said heat alone has put pressure on the body and led to higher rates of infectious disease.
“Climate change doesn’t need to be on a death certificate for us to be confident that climate change is causing deaths,” Diarmid Campbell-Lendrum, WHO’s head of climate and health, said.
Europe is experiencing longer and more intense heatwaves with each year. Read an explainer on the link between extreme heat and climate change here:
Bill Gates opens Health Day with headline-grabbing statistics
Philanthropist Bill Gates opened Health Day with a speech that made clear the links between climate change, health and finance.
He said it was "thrilling to have a health-focussed event at the COP".
He went into the impacts that climate change is having: "vector-borne diseases are showing up in places they never did before", flooding leads to more mosquitoes and diarrhoea, and heat stress on farmers leads to less productive crops.
He underlined the potential costs if we do not adapt to climate chang. The World Health Organization estimates that over the next 20 years, climate change will be responsible through the "mechanisms" he outlined for over 5 million deaths.
He explained what can change if mony is made available: funding for vaccines has saved over 25 million lives and funding for HIV has saved 20 million lives. Gates has been witness to much of this progress through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation which provides funding for research into the biggest global health challenges.
He went on to explain the need for funding to help farmers to keep farming, explaining what happens if crop failure means a family does not have enough to eat: if a child is suffering from malnutrition, their system is much less able to fight off disease.
Helping farmers to be able to keep farming will be a “major offset”, he said.
Fossil fuel company pledges 'fall short' of what is needed - UN Secretary General
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has just delivered some harsh criticism of yesterday's pledge from 50 oil and gas companies at an event on early warning systems.
"The fossil fuel industry - the giant behind the climate crisis - is finally starting to wake up," Guterres said.
"But the promises made clearly fall short of what is required."
The UN Secretary-General said that the commitment to eliminate methane by 2030 was "a step in the right direction". But the announcement about achieving net zero by 2040 "says nothing about eliminating emissions from fossil fuel consumption".
He also criticised yesterday's announcement for not providing clarity on how exactly these fossil fuel companies plan to reach net zero.
"There must be no room for greenwashing."
Pope Francis and Grand Imam unite to back urgent climate action
This morning, the first-ever faith pavilion at a COP was inaugurated.
In a video message shown at the inauguration, Pope Francis said the creation of the pavilion " testifies to the willingness to work together."
"Today, the world needs alliances that are not against someone, but for the benefit of everyone. Let us, as religious representatives, set an example to show that change is possible, to demonstrate respectful and sustainable lifestyles, and let us fervently ask the leaders of nations to preserve our common home."
The Grand Imam of Al-Azhar added: “The exceptional initiatives undertaken by the Muslim Council of Elders - firstly, inviting diverse religious figures to sign the Abu Dhabi Interfaith Statement for COP28 and secondly, establishing the first-ever Faith Pavilion at COP28 - are precious opportunities in making the voice of religious leaders heard in the face of global challenges - especially advancing the protection of our common home from irreversible destruction, which looms larger every passing year."
Is the UAE’s blue ammonia really ‘low carbon’? Experts aren’t so sure
“When I first started hearing about blue hydrogen, let alone blue ammonia, it seemed like a scam, quite frankly,” says Robert Howarth, Professor of Ecology and Environmental Biology at Cornell University. “In some ways, it is.”Good morning from Dubai! It's set to be another busy day here at COP28 and we'll be bringing you stories from across the conference throughout the day.
But first, let's catch up on what you might have missed yesterday.
- 117 governments pledged to triple the world's renewable energy capacity by 2030.
- 50 fossil fuel firms signed net zero and methane pledges - but they only cover the production of oil and gas, not the emissions produced by the actual product when it is burned.
- A slew of new countries swore off coal use including Czech Republic - one of the three big coal laggards in the EU.
- Financial pledges continued to pour in with Norway announcing a $25 million (€23m) contribution to the loss and damage fund. The US promised $3 billion (€2.76bn) for the Green Climate Fund.
- Private institutions earmarked $1 billion (around €920,000) for climate and health. But experts have warned of the need to honour these pledges in the long term.
- As speeches from world leaders continued, the Global South and Pope Francis took aim at the Global North while others took the opportunity to highlight the environmental damage caused by the bombing of Gaza.
If you need a refresher on what this whole thing is about, check out our explainer:
