Fossil fuels, greenwashing, protests: Here's what happened at Cop28 on Wednesday
People Pokemon Protest At Pikachu As The Fossil Dressed Fuels Cop28
The UN's Cop28 climate change summit in Dubai is getting down into the weeds of policy negotiations as the lustre of world leaders wears off in recent days.
On Wednesday, real-time fact-checking rose to the fore around details of what has been agreed in theory and reality.
The global climate activist has said agreeing the phasing-out of fossil fuel is imperative at this year's Cop, and has ruffled the egos of fossil fuel producers in recent weeks. Mrs Robinson and Cop28 president Sultan Ahmed al-Jaber got into a contentious online discussion around fossil fuels before the summit began, with Mr al-Jaber infuriating climate activists by denying phasing out oil and gas would help limit global warming.
On Wednesday, Mrs Robinson said on X, formerly known as Twitter: "A successful Cop28 is not about a single individual or nation but the collective will and concerted efforts of all countries in these negotiations. The science compels: phase out fossil fuels rapidly, accelerate renewable energy adoption, and radically scaled up finance.”
A blog by four ECB economists said some eurozone banks talking the most about climate change use greenwashing and lend money to some of the worst polluters.
"Banks which portray themselves as more environmentally conscious lend more than others to brown industries. There are insufficient incentives for banks to change their lending policies," the blog said.
The ECB, which supervises more than 100 banks in the eurozone, has not endorsed the blog, with the economists and more academics speaking personally.
Day one of Cop28 got off to an encouraging start and a public relations coup for host country, the United Arab Emirates, with an agreement by nations to start finally paying into the historic loss-and-damage fund agreed at last year's event in Egypt.
"Loss and damage” refers to the consequences of climate change that go beyond what people can adapt to, while “climate finance” refers to major nations paying a fairer share towards climate change bolstering in smaller nations.
Day one in Dubai saw text agreed on richer nations paying their fair share into a fund for poorer nations to tackle the fallout from major climate-related disasters.
However, just $700m has been put in so far, or less than 0.2% of the losses such countries face each year.
Protesters gathered at the entrance of the Cop28 Blue Zone to call for the global plant-based treaty to sit alongside the Paris Agreement, the historic agreement struck as Cop21 in 2015, where leaders agreed to try to limit global warming to 1.5C, which scientists say is needed to stave off the worst of climate change.
The plant-based treaty would, according to activists, "put food systems at the heart of combating the climate crisis, aiming to halt the widespread degradation of critical ecosystems caused by animal agriculture, to promote a shift to more healthy, sustainable plant-based diets".
It would also reverse damage done to planetary functions, ecosystem services and biodiversity, the activists say.
During the protest, Plant-Based Treaty activists shouted: “Stop breaking planetary boundaries! Stop ignoring the cow in the room! Put meat on the agenda, not on the menu! and Break the silence!” while also holding placards.
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