COP28 in Dubai: Top World Leaders Talk of Climate Crisis, Over 20 Nations Call for Tripling Nuclear Energy

Dubai: Over 20 countries called for the tripling of world nuclear energy capacity at UN climate talks on Saturday as part of efforts to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. 

While dozens of world leaders said they know the planet’s dangerously overheating and they are trying to keep it from getting worse. The next step is to turn their soaring rhetoric voiced at the beginning of the United Nations climate conference into action.

In the first of two days of the two-week summit, presidents, prime ministers and royals from nations rich and poor trotted up to the microphone on Friday to lay out commitments to reduce how much their countries spew heat-trapping gases and asked their colleagues to do better.

“We are not making the argument to anybody that this is absolutely going to be a sweeping alternative to every other energy source,” US climate envoy John Kerry said at the COP28 conference in Dubai. 

“But we know because the science and the reality of facts and evidence tell us that you can’t get to net zero 2050 without some nuclear,” he said. “These are just scientific realities. No politics involved in this, no ideology involved in this.” The aim is to triple nuclear energy capacity by 2050 from 2020 levels.

Critics, advocacy groups and even some leaders themselves said that the words of promise must be followed by deals hammered out by diplomats in the coming days.

In a fire-and-brimstone kickoff of the parade of VIPs, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, fresh from melting glaciers in Antarctica and Nepal, said “Earth’s vital signs are failing” and told leaders, “you can prevent planetary crash and burn”.

Jordan’s King Abdullah said it was impossible to separate climate change from the war in Gaza.

“Climate threats magnify the devastation of war,’’ the king said. “Let’s be inclusive of the most vulnerable Palestinians severely impacted by the war.”

At #Cop28, Indian Prime Minister @narendramodi proposes to host #COP33 in India. #WATCH live from @COP28_UAE ;

More to come as a report; #ClimateCrisis #ClimateEmergency @PMOIndia @MEAIndia @narendramodi @insideclimate @AfricaWnn @TodaySadbhawna @Social_MediaP @UAEmediaoffice… pic.twitter.com/uzoiRPAEGq

— Dr. Shahid Siddiqui (@shahidsiddiqui) December 1, 2023

Many developing-world leaders pledged to do more to advance solar power and other renewable energies, while calling for technology transfer, help in building resilience against climate disasters and sharing of “best practices” as Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema put it  from “the North” to help continents like Africa benefit too.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil, home to most of the Amazon rainforest, said “the planet is tired of climate agreements that were not fulfilled” and said he’s had enough of “eloquent and empty speeches”.

Lula called for climate justice for poorer nations that didn’t cause the problem and railed against $2 trillion spent on weapons last year when the money should be spent on fighting hunger and climate change. He said Brazil will stop Amazon deforestation by 2030.

Many leaders, including France’s Emmanuel Macron and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, took aim at coal. The Japanese leader pledged ending new construction at home of unabated coal-fired power plants, in a clearer show of determination than in the past toward achieving net-zero.

While addressing COP28, Kenya President William Ruto said: “Climate change stands out by far as the defining issue of our era.” He joined many leaders who repeated the major goals of conference organisers to triple renewable energy and double energy efficiency.

The conference president on Friday issued a document calling for a “phase-down” of fossil fuels, which experts say is less than a phase-out. But 106 nations in Africa, Europe, the Caribbean and in the Pacific signed a statement calling for a full exit. It’s up to the more than 190 countries in the talks to come up with an agreement everyone can be happy with, said conference Director General Majid Al Suwaidi.

However, ‘on the sidelines of the COP28 Summit in Dubai Indian PM met Qatar Amir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad.

He tweeted,   “We had a good conversation on the potential of bilateral partnership and the well-being of the Indian community in Qatar’.’

PM Modi delivered four speeches and participated in two special initiatives on climate events.  During the day, PM Modi also held seven bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the 12-day Summit followed by pull-aside and informal meetings. 

The World Climate Action Summit is the High- Level Segment of the 28th Conference of Parties (COP28) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). 

–Dr. M Shahid Siddiqui (PhD), Follow via X (Twitter) @shahidsiddiqui

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