COP28 climate conference begins with controversy and early financial breakthrough

After facing renewed criticism for his deep ties to the oilpatch on the eve of hosting the world's largest ever climate summit, the president of COP28 scored an early victory on Thursday with a breakthrough financial agreement.

Sultan al-Jaber oversaw the creation of the world's first climate damage fund. The tentative agreement was met with a standing ovation from delegates in Dubai, United Arab Emirates,on the opening of the UN climate conference.

The new fund has been set up to help developing countries cope with the impacts of climate change such as floods, drought and rising sea levels. The U.A.E. and Germany both pledged $100 million US.

The agreement came following a declaration from the World Meteorological Organization that 2023 will be the warmest year recorded in human history.

'We are living through climate collapse'

"We are living through climate collapse in real time and the impact is devastating," UN Secretary General Antnio Guterressaid to delegates. "Record global heating should send shivers down the spines of world leaders, and it should trigger them to act."

Al-Jaber, who is leading the talks on behalf of the U.A.E., is also chief executive of the U.A.E. national oil company, ADNOC. Environmental advocates have criticized his dual positions as a conflict of interest.

Those complaints resurfaced on Mondayafter leaked briefing documents prepared for al-Jaber showed plans to discuss oil and gas deals with 15 countries, including a possible LNG project in Canada. The BBC and the Centre for Climate Reporting published the details.

During an opening newsconference, al-Jaber denied the validity of the allegations.

Instead, he said his role as an oil company CEO will help him to engage the oilpatch industry and other oil-producing countries.

"Sometimes, I am told, 'You need to engage with governments and oil and gas companies to put pressure,' and sometimes, I am told, 'You can't do that.' So, we're damned if we do, damned if we don't," he said.

Hundreds of oil and coal representatives

The conference is being held in OPEC territory and, for the first time, the oil cartel will have its own pavilion space at the climate conference. More than 600 oilpatch and coal industry officials registered for last year's summit, and more are expected to attend this year's event.

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With King Charles as keynote speaker, dignitaries at COP28 speak about how the choices made now will drastically change the future of the climate. Host country U.A.E. pledged $30B US, built on the country's vast oil wealth, to finance clean energy projects, especially in less-developed countries.

In his opening speech on Thursday to delegates, al-Jaberagain addressed the role of the oilpatch and said his discussions with the sector resulted in more companies announcing net-zero emission targets for 2050.

"Let history reflect the fact that this is the presidency that made a bold choice to proactively engage with oil and gas companies. We had many hard discussions. Let me tell you that wasn't easy," he said.

The climate summit is only beginning as government officials prepare for marathon negotiations over the two-week event. Ministers and high-ranking officials from 198 countries will try to agree on new measures to tackle climate changeas temperatures soar and carbon emissions continue to rise around the globe.

"The reality is that industry has to be part of the equation" of reducing emissions, saidCarlos Pascual, asenior vice-president withS&P Global Commodity Insightsand aformer U.S. ambassador, in an interview with CBC News in Dubai.

"If you ask what are the parts of the world that have the technological capability, the engineering skill, the ability to mobilize capital to implement and undertake capitalprojects at scale and replicate them at scale, the oil and gas industry has to be part of that," he said.

No funding from Canada yet

Canada did not announce funding for the new loss and damage fund on Thursday. There will be pressure on developed nations to announce contributions as world leaders take to the stage on Friday and Saturday.

"There has been a fight for 30 long years to create a mechanism so that people already facing climate emergencies who are losing their homes, farms and income how can they be supported to recover from these impacts," said Harjeet Singh, an environmental advocate withClimate Action Network International.

He added it was "unprecedented" for a decision to be adopted on the first day of a COP summit.

The early breakthrough is raising hopes for other agreements at COP28, such as a deal to triple global renewable energy installed by 2030.

World leaders and government officials, including King Charles, U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunakand Prime Minister of IndiaNarendra Modiare attending the summit.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, U.S. President Joe Biden and Xi Jinping of China are not expected to attend.

The Canadian government is expected to announce new methane targets and the long-awaited cap on oilpatch emissions.

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