Jump to navigation

Vol 64 No 25

Published 14th December 2023

The 28th UN Conference of the Parties Climate Summit – a users' guide

PREVIEW

How to navigate the facts, the figures and the declarations | By Tim Concannon and Jerry Sam in Accra and Caroline Chebet in Nairobi

The UN's COP summits are a marathon – even by the standards of other international summits organised by the UN, the IMF and sundry regional organisations.

This year's summit – COP28 in Dubai – is already an epic in terms of the over 90,000 people that have registered as delegates.

It opened on 30 November and is due to run until at least midnight on 16 December when the hosts, the United Arab Emirates, will release the final communiqué and roster of financial pledges and declarations of policy actions from the nearly 200 nations participating.

This dossier offers a point by point guide to the key issues under discussion – from the debate over the Loss and Damage Fund and the need for a global carbon tax to whether the final declaration will include an agreement to 'phase-down'  (as the hydrocarbon economies want) or 'phase out' (as the climate activists want) of fossil fuel production.

For a detailed guide to the facts, the figures and the declarations, read our Special Report here: The 28th UN Conference of the Parties Climate Summit – a users' guide

Copyright © Africa Confidential 2025
https://www.africa-confidential.com

Prepared for Free Article on 17/10/2025 at 12:53. Authorized users may download, save, and print articles for their own use, but may not further disseminate these articles in their electronic form without express written permission from Africa Confidential / Asempa Limited. Contact subscriptions@africa-confidential.com.

Related Articles

ICJ climate ruling opens floodgates for billions in pollution payouts

The UN court’s opinion defining greenhouse gas emissions as ‘internationally wrongful acts’ argues for climate finance to become a legal obligation for the main polluting countries

The ruling by the UN’s top court that countries may be held legally accountable for their greenhouse gas emissions and the environmental damage they cause could help reshape...

Climate of scepticism

Expectations are low ahead of next week's COP27 climate change summit in Sharm el Sheikh. Although the African Union common position has moved away from an early draft...

Key points from Copenhagen

At the United Nations’ climate change summit in Copenhagen in December 2009, African governments won a victory by stopping attempts by the West to kill off the Kyoto...

President Bio keeps cocaine lord in the family

One of Europe’s most wanted criminals is the partner of one of the President’s daughters and has transferred his operations to Freetown. An Africa Confidential Special Report By Josef Skrdlik and Andrew Weir

Sierra Leone has been in a state of shock ever since one of Freetown’s most astonishing urban myths was confirmed as fact – that one of Europe’s most...

READ FOR FREE

Stories by country

Footer Map