The United Arab Emirates (UAE) planned to use its role as the host of UN climate talks as “an opportunity to strike oil and gas deals”, BBC News reports, with “leaked briefing documents” revealing plans to discuss fossil fuel deals with 15 nations. The outlet explains: “The documents – obtained by independent journalists at the Centre for Climate Reporting working alongside the BBC – were prepared by the UAE’s COP28 team for meetings with at least 27 foreign governments ahead of the COP28 summit, which starts on 30 November. They included proposed ‘talking points’, such as one for China which says Adnoc, the UAE’s state oil company, is “willing to jointly evaluate international LNG [liquefied natural gas] opportunities” in Mozambique, Canada and Australia. The documents suggest telling a Colombian minister that Adnoc ‘stands ready’ to support Colombia to develop its fossil fuel resources. There are talking points for 13 other countries, including Germany and Egypt, which suggest telling them Adnoc wants to work with their governments to develop fossil fuel projects.” The story notes that UAE “also prepared talking points on commercial opportunities for its state renewable energy company, Masdar”, noting that the leaked briefing documents were prepared for COP28 president-designate Sultan Al Jaber, who is also chief executive of both Adnoc and Masdar. BBC News says that “attempting to do business deals during the COP process appears to be a serious breach of the standards of conduct expected of a COP president”. However, it continues, the UAE team did not deny using COP28 meetings for business talks and said “private meetings are private”.

Elsewhere, Bloomberg reports on new data showing that despite Masdar’s claims to be one of the world’s largest renewable energy companies with more than 20 gigawatts of total low-carbon energy production capacity, “the reality is that Masdar’s portfolio accounts for a little more than 3.8GW”. This puts it “62nd in the world among renewable-energy companies”, the outlet says.

US president Joe Biden is not planning to attend the COP28 climate summit in the United Arab Emirates this week, reports the Financial Times, as he “grapples with war in the Middle East and prepares for a tough re-election campaign in 2024”. The White House said last night that it did not have “anything to announce” regarding Biden’s planned participation or absence from the COP28 summit, the newspaper says. It describes the “apparent decision” to skip the COP28 gathering of world leaders as “striking” given that “Biden has placed the fight against climate change high on his domestic and international agendas and attended the last two climate summits in the UK and Egypt”. The New York Times first reported the story after speaking to an “anonymous” official. The outlet says that climate activists “are likely to be angered” by the decision, but “analysts said it was not typical for a US president to attend every climate summit”. The COP28 gathering of world leaders will be held on Friday and Saturday, notes Axios. The outlet quotes a White House statement, which says that “the [Biden] administration looks forward to a robust and productive COP28 where special envoy John Kerry, national climate advisor Ali Zaidi, and senior advisor John Podesta, among others, will continue to build on the administration’s historic actions to tackle the climate crisis”. It adds that the White House “has not categorically stated that Biden will not attend COP28, so it’s possible he could make an appearance later on”. Agence France-Presse says that the schedule released for Kamala Harris shows that the vice president was also not heading to the COP. The Guardian, Le Monde, Hindustan Times and Reuters all have the story.

Meanwhile, the Associated Press reports that Pope Francis yesterday “revealed that he has a lung inflammation, but will go later this week to Dubai to address the climate change conference”. And Reuters reports that the Indian government has confirmed that prime minister Narendra Modi will attend COP28.

UK prime minister Rishi Sunak is “set to pledge his support” at COP28 for a landmark loss-and-damage fund to help vulnerable countries cope with the impact of climate change, reports Bloomberg. According to “people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity”, the outlet says “the final amount offered by the UK has yet to be decided and still needs to be approved by ministers”, adding: “It is likely to come from its £11.6bn ($14.6bn) international climate finance pot that the government already ring-fenced for the five years to 2026.” The article says the UK “hopes that the World Bank’s role will enable the loss and damage fund to be established in a timely manner, and believes it should receive finance from a wide range of sources”. It adds that “while the UK will support an agreement in Dubai next week, it is subject to approval at COP28”. On the same topic, the Observer carries quotes from Wopke Hoekstra, EU commissioner for climate action, who has suggested that China and other big developing nations should pay into the fund. He told a group of journalists: “We need so much more money that we need basically everyone with the ability to pay to chip in…Climate financing, climate action, will take significantly more money. I’m not talking about 20% or 30% more – incremental amounts – but factors more in the years to come. We need private sector money and we need a lot more public sector money.”

Meanwhile, Brazil has signed onto an agreement to triple renewable energy globally by 2030 and shift away from using coal, reports Reuters, joining a prospective deal backed by the European Union, US and United Arab Emirates. Brazil’s embassy in Abu Dhabi said in a letter to the UAE’s’ foreign ministry that it would join the deal titled the “Global Renewables and Energy Efficiency Targets Pledge”, the newswire says, while “a spokesperson for Brazil’s foreign ministry confirmed the country has decided to join the pact”. It notes that “South America’s largest country is now one of roughly 100 countries that have signed onto the deal, according to a European official familiar with the matter”. (See Carbon Brief’s recent Q&A for more on these targets.)

Reuters also reports that Germany and Chile plan to launch a club of governments to help developing nations invest in decarbonising industries – such as steel and cement-making – at COP28. A draft statement seen by the newswire shows that Germany and Chile’s “climate club” will launch a matchmaking platform to connect emerging and developing countries with funding and technical support from governments and the private sector to decarbonise industries. The statement is due to be published on 1 December during a launch event, Reuters says, adding that the website for the club lists 33 members, including the US, Argentina, Australia, Canada, Colombia, Egypt, the European Union, Indonesia, Japan, Kenya, Mozambique, Morocco, Ukraine and the UK. Separately, Reuters also speaks to UN climate change high-level champion Mahmoud Mohieldin, who says that a Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) structure – a financing scheme that draws on funding from western donors to help developing countries shift to cleaner power generation – could be extended to include heavy industries and other hard-to-abate sectors, such as steel, aluminium, cement and fertilisers. This makes sense, Mohieldin says, because the new European Union carbon border adjustment mechanism would otherwise penalise developing world exporters, the newswire notes.

A fourth Reuters article reports that “Vietnam is finalising reform commitments with G7 governments and multilateral lenders that could unlock billions of dollars in loans to reduce coal use in the south-east Asian manufacturing hub”. Speaking to “foreign officials familiar with the talks”, the newswire says the “Resource Mobilisation Plan” has to be agreed with investors ahead of COP28. It adds: “Vietnam’s Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh will attend the COP28 from 30 November to 3 December, the government portal said, raising expectations that the plan could be announced there.” And a fifth Reuters article looks at how COP28 puts a “spotlight on turning methane pledges into action”.

In other COP28 news, in an “exclusive”, the Guardian speaks to Simon Stiell – executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change – who says world leaders must “stop dawdling and start doing” on carbon emission cuts. Speaking to the newspaper ahead of COP28, Stiell said: “We’re used to talking about protecting people on the far-flung frontlines. We’re now at the point where we’re all on the frontline…Yet most governments are still strolling when they need to be sprinting.” Stiell also writes for the Indian Express, where he says that COP28 is a “chance to get past fear-mongering” around the cost-of-living crisis meaning “climate change action is unaffordable and against the interests of ordinary people”. He argues that “nothing could be further from the truth”. 

Finally on COP28, African Arguments reports on a declaration from the west and central African women’s climate assembly. Climate Home News reports on the “inevitable” fossil fuel fight set to dominate the summit. Politics Home reports that short-lived former UK chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng has said that COP28 should not “bully” developing countries towards net-zero. The Observer, Times and Reuters all have COP28 previews, while Elizabeth Kolbert – staff writer at the New Yorker – has a piece on “the road to Dubai”.

The Guardian reports on new Carbon Brief analysis showing the impact that accounting for colonial rule makes on assessing historical responsibility for climate change. The article focuses on the implications for the UK’s emissions, noting that the analysis “moves up the UK from eighth to fourth in the list of nations with the biggest historical emissions, behind the US, China and Russia”. It explains: “The UK’s domestic emissions account for 3% of total world emissions dating back to 1850. But when responsibility for emissions in countries once under the British empire’s rule is given to the UK, the figure rises to more than 5%. These additional emissions come largely from the destruction of forests in the colonised countries, with the biggest contributors coming from India, Myanmar and Nigeria before their independence.” The issue of responsibility features strongly in UN climate negotiations, the article says, especially in the “debate over the provision of climate finance to developing nations”. The newspaper quotes Carbon Brief’s deputy editor Dr Simon Evans, who says: “Our findings reinforce the significant historical responsibility of developed countries for current warming, particularly the former colonial powers in Europe.” The Hindustan Times also picks up Carbon Brief’s analysis, reporting that “accounting for colonial rule reduces India’s climate role by 15%”. Dutch newspaper NRC reports the findings relating to the Netherlands on its frontpage, with the headline: “Small country was big polluter.”

India is “seeking to revive underground coal mining”, reports the Financial Times, as it “tries to boost production to meet the country’s fast-growing energy needs despite international pressure to phase down use of the polluting fossil fuel”. The newspaper explains: “The [country’s coal] ministry has outlined plans to triple output from underground coal mines by 2028, preparing to auction new blocks, accelerate environmental clearance and roll out incentives to promote foreign investment and domestic equipment manufacturing. India, the world’s second-largest coal producer after China, currently extracts 95% of its coal from opencast mines carved into the surface, and relies on the fuel for about three-quarters of its power production. But underground tunnel mining, which remains common in countries including China and Australia, has declined sharply in recent decades due to higher costs and risks.” In a statement to the FT, a senior official at India’s coal ministry is quoted saying: “India is on a high-orbit growth trajectory, expanding industrially and economically…Coal continues to play a key role in India’s economic growth and development.”

China’s vice premier Ding Xuexiang will arrive in the UAE on the 30 November to attend the world climate action summit at COP28, reports Reuters. Ding will also visit Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan immediately before the event, the newswire says. 

Meanwhile, BBC News interviews Lord David Cameron, in what it says is his first interview since becoming foreign minister. The broadcaster reports him as saying “China is key to solving big issues like climate change”. The Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reports that China has called on France to “encourage the [EU] to uphold free trade”. Chinese premier Li Qiang told French foreign minister Catherine Colonna that “China is willing to deepen mutually beneficial cooperation with France, and join forces to cope with global challenges such as climate change”, the outlet adds. Reuters also covers Colonna’s trip, reporting comments by foreign minister Wang Yi that “competition” should not make Europe “afraid” of working with China. The state newswire China News Service quotes former French prime minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin as saying “in addressing climate change and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, China and Europe have shown a common determination”. The Communist Party-affiliated newspaper People’s Daily reports that “to achieve global warming mitigation goals…the international community should provide greater support to developing economies” through investment. The Communist Party-run newspaper Guangming Daily reports that “in the global wave of green energy cooperation, there are still those who approach China with caution and move against the current…The EU’s anti-subsidy investigation into imported Chinese electric vehicles has sparked dissatisfaction”. Bloomberg says that China will “prioritise small projects” in the belt and road initiative (BRI), according to a new government report issued on Friday. 

In other news, Chinese energy outlet BJX News reports that a total of “14 super-large thermal power plants” are in operation, under construction or being planned in China. Hellenic Shipping News says that global fossil fuel subsidies are on the rise “despite calls for [a] phase-out”, using examples including China’s “new [capacity payment] scheme earlier…that pays coal-fired power plants not for the electricity they supply, but for making capacity ready and available to the grid when needed”. China Dialogue carries an article by Anders Hove, a senior research fellow at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, who writes that “as spot market pilots gain experience…there remains the potential to introduce market-oriented components into the capacity-payment design”. Reuters says that China is “expecting record consumption of both power and gas in the winter of 2023-24” due to “major fuel accumulation” over the summer. 

Ahead of COP28, the Guardian reports on how China’s “coal addiction” puts a “spotlight on its climate ambitions”, while the Sunday Times looks at whether “China, the world’s biggest polluter, be an eco-saviour?”

UK energy secretary Claire Coutinho has said the government faces “difficult” conversations with local communities about hosting the grid infrastructure needed for the low-carbon energy transition, reports Politico. Speaking to the outlet, Coutinho described work to expand and overhaul the electricity network as “the most radical plans since the 1950s”. The outlet quotes her continuing: “I think everybody recognises that the amount of demand for electricity is going to double by 2050. Part of our job is to keep the lights on. We also want to keep peoples’ bills down and make sure that we can meet our climate change ambitions.” It quotes Coutinho saying that to achieve this, “we are going to need energy infrastructure, but the way we do that has got to be just and equitable”. Coutinho pledged a “credible approach”, the article continues, which would “hopefully help the conversation” and give people “line of sight on what’s coming down the tracks”. On the same topic, the Observer reports on new data from the International Energy Agency (IEA), which shows that “from next year, engineers will need to roll out more than 100km (62 miles) of electric cabling every day until 2040 if the government hopes to power the UK towards its climate goals”.

Meanwhile, BBC News reports that the Labour party “denied claims it could further water down its flagship green prosperity plan”. The policy, announced in 2021, “originally promised to spend £28bn a year until 2030 on the flagship green project, funded by borrowing”, the outlet explains. However, a “senior source” had suggested to the outlet that the level of investment previously promised might never be reached because of the state of the public finances. However, BBC News adds, a party spokesman subsequently confirmed that, if elected, Labour would indeed “ramp up investment in jobs and energy independence” to a “total of £28bn a year as planned” in the second half of their parliamentary term. The Daily Telegraph, Independent, Daily Mail and i newspaper all have the story, while the Sun says that Labour sources “suggested there will be an inquiry” into the initial briefing.

In other UK news, Sky News reports that the government “has given one of its strongest indications yet that it is going cold on hydrogen for home heating”. It says energy minister Lord Martin Callanan told the Climate Show with Tom Heap that hydrogen “will not play a major role in home heating”, adding: “There’s no way that could be practically achieved.” The broadcaster says Callanan went on to say that “it is clear that the vast majority of decarbonisation of home heating in the UK will be electrification”, but that “if we have hydrogen production locally it might play a small role in some localised areas”. The Times reports that government ministers “have lined up Abu Dhabi investors to take a significant stake in the [proposed] Sizewell C nuclear power plant”. And the Guardian reports that the “behemoth” Australian fund IFM Investors “will sink £10bn (A$19bn) into infrastructure and energy transition projects in Britain by 2027 as part of a new memorandum of understanding with the Sunak government”.

In further UK news, Politico reports that UK ministers “will create a fast-action trigger giving them the power to impose new windfall taxes on energy companies if prices spike again in future”. The Sunday Times reports that Conservative MP Chris Skidmore, who signed net-zero into law as Theresa May’s energy minister, is “seeking ministers’ support” to chair the Climate Change Committee. The Guardian and the Press Association report on new analysis suggesting that the annual food bills of UK households have been driven up by more than £600 over the past two years by climate change and  soaring energy prices. The Daily Mail reports that “taxpayers could have to fork out £4bn to power station owner Drax under new clean energy funding plans even though campaigners dispute its green credentials”. The Daily Telegraph says the House of Lords economic affairs committee (EAC) has warned that the Bank of England’s focus on net-zero “jeopardises” its ability to fight inflation. And the Guardian looks at whether planes fuelled by used cooking oil could help with the UK’s “jet-zero” aspirations. 

“Thousands of employees from energy intensive companies” demonstrated on Friday in Germany for electricity price relief for businesses, urging the government to cap the electricity price for energy intensive industries at five cents per kilowatt-hour for a limited period, reports Manager Magazin. A German trade union, IG BCE’s president Michael Vassiliadis is quoted as saying: “The energy intensive industry needs green electricity at competitive prices for the transformation…Politicians must be honest across party lines: the climate-friendly transformation of our economy cannot be paid for from loose change.” In addition, another trade union’s representative, IG Metall’s Christiane Benner stated that “the consequences of the Federal Constitutional Court’s ruling on the budget are disastrous for a climate-neutral future…Now more than ever, there is a need for a clear signal for a green transformation.” German news channel ntv explains that German finance minister Christian Lindner announced on Friday that the government would not pay out the billions in state aid through the electricity and gas “price brakes” as planned until the end of March 2024. However, the article notes that Germany’s Green Party leader, Ricarda Lang, says there is no agreement on this matter in government. Nevertheless, the Financial Times quotes the chief executive of steelmaker Salzgitter, Gunnar Groebler, warning that Germany’s big energy users “must commit to the country as a base to stave off the creeping deindustrialisation of Europe’s largest economy”. 

Meanwhile, Die Zeit reports that the head of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), Petteri Taalas, recommended that Germany consider a return to nuclear power: “Nuclear power is a good technology for producing climate-friendly energy…I would call on the German government to reconsider the phase out of nuclear power.”

Writing in the Financial Times, Mary Robinson – the former president of Ireland – says that “we cannot afford to press pause on action” on climate change, even against a “backdrop of divisive geopolitics”. There is a risk that 2023 “becomes the year that multilateral cooperation on climate fractures”, says Robinson, “if leaders do not respond at the scale and with the urgency the science demands”. She notes that “COP28 will unfold amid intersecting crises: the horror in Israel and Gaza, Russia’s war on Ukraine and the cost of living crisis are all at the forefront of international concern”. But, she adds, “I am deeply troubled by some domestic policy reversals undermining progress – from tax cuts sparking an increase in emissions in Sweden, to the UK’s new North Sea oil and gas pledges, to the continuing oil and gas expansion in both Brazil and Norway – all moves that contradict their public commitments”. Robinson concludes: “Rich countries need to get into crisis mode, spearheading efforts to drastically curb their own emissions and build resilience, while providing support to the least economically developed nations. Leaders must boost climate finance well beyond the promised $100bn mark, aiming for the trillions now necessary. We need to see the development of new mechanisms, including targeting industries reaping huge profits from climate change. We cannot afford to press pause on action, or to have a ‘bad COP’. Amid a global landscape rife with division, the success of this summit is critical – not just for the climate, but for upholding the spirit of multilateral cooperation between countries.”

An editorial in the Times says it is “far from clear” how Labour – in the likely event it forms a government in 2024 – will manage the economy within the constraints of “weak growth, stubborn inflation, upward pressures on public spending and the highest tax burden since the 1940s”. The article describes the Labour party’s £28bn “green prosperity plan” for low-carbon energy production as a “bad answer” to the question of Labour’s economic approach. The plan was launched in 2021 and “reasserted last week in the face of speculation that it was being watered down”, the article says. [See Climate and energy news above.] The newspaper argues: “This type of programme recalls the errors of industrial strategy in the 1970s under both parties in assuming, without evidence, that governments know better than the market how to generate sustainable growth and can reliably predict the technologies of the future. Such an approach is likely to squander taxpayers’ money and expand public borrowing when resources are scarce.” An editorial in the Sunday Times says Labour’s £28bn plan is “withering before our eyes”, adding: “Labour insists the programme is still on track, but the fading of a Biden-style green jobs vision leaves [Labour leader Keir] Starmer lacking a big idea.”

Elsewhere in UK comment, a Guardian editorial comments on the newspaper’s “great carbon divide” series from last week. It says that “noticing massive historical and geographical disparities in carbon emissions is not enough” and that “big polluters must be stopped”. Martha Gill, columnist for the Observer, writes that frequent flyers should “pay the full price” of their environmental impact. And Matthew Lynn, financial columnist at the Daily Telegraph, says that the Conservatives have “capitulated to the heat pump extremists”.

Accounting for the long-term impacts of tropical cyclones increases the “social cost of carbon” – a metric that assesses the societal costs of carbon dioxide emissions – by more than 20%, according to a new study. The authors assess the impacts of tropical cyclones on growth in 41 cyclone-affected countries at different warming levels. They find that under a “middle-of-the-road future emission and socioeconomic development” scenario, accounting for the long-term impacts of tropical cyclones increases the social cost of carbon from $173 to $212 per tonne of CO2. The increase is greatest in India, the US, China, Taiwan and Japan, the authors note.

Strategies related to land use and development, circular economy and waste management are the “most effective and reliable” for reducing emissions in “cities and regions”, new research finds. The authors review 234 case studies to estimate the greenhouse gas emissions reductions expected from 12 different categories of mitigation strategies. They find the “cities and regions are taking widespread action to reduce emission” but add that there is “misalignment” between the strategies that policymakers and researchers focus on, and those with the greatest expected impacts.