Your guide to Cop28: news, views and analysis from AGBI

At the end of November, the world’s biggest climate change conference – the United Nations’ annual Conference of the Parties, better known as Cop28 – will begin in the UAE. 

More than 80,000 delegates, 5,000 journalists and 140 heads of state are expected to attend the 14-day summit at Dubai’s Expo site.

The host nation, one of the world’s largest oil exporters, wants this year’s conference to provide “bold, practical and ambitious solutions to the most pressing global challenge of our time”.

The Emirati government recognises the realities of climate change, but argues there can be no meaningful debate without the involvement of fossil fuel producers.

This year’s Cop is set to be one of the most consequential since the first conference, held in Berlin in 1995. It will pit the Global South against the Industrialised North and, for the UAE and the wider Gulf, it marks a coming of age. 

This is why AGBI, as the voice of Middle East business, is launching a section dedicated to news and discussion around Cop28. 

Each day we will publish news reports, analysis, expert commentary, videos and more about the summit.

Topics will include renewable energy, green finance, carbon credits, hydrogen and sustainable investing, as well as sustainability in business sectors such as tourism, banking, construction, food, aviation and logistics. 

Closer to the event, we will bring you regular updates about the summit itself, including the final programme, interviews with delegates and insights from our journalists on the ground. 

Commentary will be provided by the entire editorial team, AGBI editor-at-large Frank Kane, energy expert and author Robin Mills, and a string of regional and global business leaders.  

AGBI has no commercial or political affiliation with Cop28 or its organisers. Our dedicated section aims to publish news and views from every perspective and, crucially, explore the business opportunities presented by Cop28. 

The global issues could not be more serious. This summer El Niño, the weather pattern responsible for soaring global temperatures, has re-emerged for the first time in seven years.

It is a reminder of the challenges nations face in trying to reach the 1.5C target set by the world’s scientists to prevent global warming – and the agreement made at Cop21 in Paris.

As Frank Kane writes, there is “overwhelming consensus…that if left unchecked, climate change presents a serious threat to the lives and livelihoods of everybody on the planet”. 

The debate now is about how best to mitigate its impact.