World leaders are preparing to discuss climate change at a major United Nations summit in Dubai, the largest and most populous city in the United Arab Emirates.
The summit will be held after a year of extreme weather conditions in which many climate records were broken.
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What is COP28 and where is it being held?
COP28 is the 28th annual climate meeting of the United Nations.
Governments discuss on it how to limit and prepare for future climate changes.
The summit will be held from November 30 to December 12, 2023.
COP stands for "Conference of the Parties".
Foreign countries are signatories to the original UN climate document in 1992.
Why is holding COP28 in Dubai controversial?
The United Arab Emirates is among the world's ten largest oil producers.
Za of the President of COP28, the country appointed the chief executive of the state oil company, Sultan Al Jaber.
Oil, like gas and coal, is a fossil fuel.
They are the main causes of climate change because they emit greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide that heat the planet by burning them for energy.
But the Al Jaber oil company plans to expand own production capacities.
"It's the equivalent of putting a tobacco company executive in charge of a cancer conference," said activist group 350.org.
Al Jaber claims that he is in a uniquely good position to require action from the oil and gas industry.
And as president of the renewable energy company Masdar, he also managed expansion clean technologies such as solar and wind energy.
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Why is COP28 important?
Organizers hope that COP28 will be able to keep alive the agreed-upon goal of limiting the long-term increase in global temperature to 1,5 degrees Celsius. almost 200 countries in Paris in 2015.
The 1,5 degree Celsius target is key to avoiding the most damaging consequences of climate change, according to the UN's climate body, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Long-term warming is currently at about 1,1 or 1,2 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial times, the period before humans started burning fossil fuels en masse.
However, the world is on track to reach a warming of approx 2,5 degrees Celsius before 2100, even with current pledges to combat emissions.
Window for goal maintenance of 1,5 degrees Celsius is "narrowing rapidly", the UN claims.
What will be discussed at COP28?
The Paris goals will be at the center of the discussion, but they will COP28 average to:
- accelerating steps towards clean energy sources, in order to "reduce" greenhouse gas emissions before 2030
- delivering money for climate action from richer to poorer countries and working on a new agreement for developing countries
- emphasis on nature and people
- making COP28 the "most inclusive" yet
There will also be thematic days on issues such as health, finance, food and nature.
Who will attend COP28?
More than 200 governments have been invited, although leaders of many countries such as the US, China and India have yet to confirm participation.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced that he would come.
Environmental charities, communities, think tanks, companies and religious groups will also be present.
Hundreds of delegates with ties to fossil fuels participated in COP27 last year.
What seeds of discord will there be at COP28?
There will probably be disagreements about the future of "undiluted" fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas), which they burn without technologies for capturing their broadcasts.
Al Jaber called for a gradual reduction in their use over a period of time, but not for their complete elimination.
However, the European Union is expected to seek "complete decommissioning".
Climate activists point out that limited agreements on "undiluted" fossil fuels have allowed some production to continue.
They say there are no guarantees that emissions capture will work on a massive scale.
Money will also be a problem.
At COP27, it was agreed loss and damage fund - that richer countries pay the poorer ones that face the consequences of climate change.
But exactly how this will work remains unclear.
The US, for example, ruled out the possibility payment of reparations for their own historical shows.
In 2009, developed countries pledged to pay $100 billion a year by 2020 to developing countries to help them reduce emissions and prepare for climate change.
This goal has not been achieved, but it is expected to be achieved in 2023.
Will COP28 make a difference?
Critics of the COP, including activist Greta Thunberg, accuse the summits of "greenwashing" - when countries and companies brag about climate achievements without making the necessary changes.
But when world leaders come together, summits offer the potential for global agreements that transcend national measures.
The limit on warming of 1,5 degrees Celsius, agreed in Paris at COP21, has led to "near universal climate action", the UN claims.
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