On January 24 at 11:00 Moscow Time (GMT+3), the Valdai Club hosted an expert discussion on the environmental agenda and the results of the COP28 climate conference in Dubai.
In December 2023, the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) took place in the UAE. The participants analysed progress in achieving the goals that were set under the 2015 Paris Agreement. During the preparation of the final document, controversy arose regarding the initiative to abandon fossil fuels. The OPEC states were against it, while Germany, the United States, Canada, Britain, Japan, Australia, Brazil and the countries of Oceania were in favour. For the sake of consensus, the text was softened, and an agreement to gradually replace fossil fuels with renewable energy sources was adopted.
What will the outcome of COP28 mean in practice? How realistic is the adopted course in the medium term? How will oil-producing countries react? What will Russia’s position be? How will the current geopolitical situation affect the environmental agenda? Participants in the discussion tried to answer these and other questions.