Dubai is known for going big. As the host of the twenty-eighth UN climate talks, better known as COP28, Dubai did not disappoint—including a reported 84,000 attendees (more than double the 38,457 attendees at COP26 in Glasgow, the previous record-holder). This COP looked and felt different from previous iterations due in part to the host country’s effort to widen the tent by including a more diverse set of voices, both at the negotiating table and in the variety of side meetings and engagements throughout the two-week conference.
But as the Emirati hosts learned quickly, inclusion is not always a positive thing. While the conference hosted an impressive youth delegate program and the first-ever day devoted to gender equality and its relationship with climate change, COP28 also welcomed in oil executives and a large presence of private sector delegates, to the dismay of many attendees. But perhaps inclusion—even of some of the most problematic climate aggressors—can have a positive effect, if the desire for progress is legitimate and the performative aspects of the conference can carry over into action once delegates return home.
UAE Climate Envoy and COP28 President Sultan Ahmed al-Jaber, who also happens to be the country’s top oil executive, drew heavy criticism during the conference when he stated that there is “no science out there” that supports the phaseout of fossil fuels to achieve the global goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. He was directly contradicted by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who unequivocally stated that the only way to get to 1.5 degrees is through the complete elimination of burning fossil fuels. The debate over fossil fuels—and what many see as the UAE’s hypocritical role as a major oil producer hosting a climate conference—often overshadowed positives changes at this year’s gathering, including a focus on elevating the voices of youth and women.
COP28 included the first ever Youth Climate Champion, a ministerial-level position meant to bridge gaps between governments and other officials and young climate activists. COP28 also saw the creation of the first-ever International Youth Climate Delegate Program, fully funding the participation of and working on capacity-building for one hundred young people from around the world to enable them to participate in the negotiations. And during the Youth, Children, Education, and Skills Day, COP28 attendees participated in the first-ever Youth Stocktake to determine the level of youth inclusion in climate negotiations and to develop ways to better amplify youth voices in the future.
Additionally, several country delegations made strong efforts to include young people within their ranks. Walking around the COP28 venue, I saw young people everywhere. I spoke with youth delegates from the MENA region who made it clear that they were largely being taken seriously and given a real voice at the table. Delegates told me that they were assigned substantive portfolios and negotiating roles. Some older delegates said they encouraged their younger counterparts to take the lead during meetings, often intervening only to help them craft their messages more effectively. And unlike many of the older delegates who tended to come from either scientific or diplomatic backgrounds, young people represented a larger variety of voices, from civil society activists to academics to the heads of tech startups who are on the forefront of climate innovation. While there are some legitimate fears of “youth-washing”—or including youth in a performative rather than substantive role—delegations should be applauded for making space for the generation who will be most impacted by climate change, alongside those with more scientific expertise and experience.
COP28 also devoted a day to gender equality featuring high-level panels and commitments on gender-responsive, just transitions alongside numerous small-scale events addressing challenges related to women and girls in the climate space. One panel featuring young women from the MENA region stood out for its optimism. Panelists expressed their visions for the future, offering hope rather than despair and bringing attention to the perceived hypocrisy of the host country in a way that was braver and bolder than I’ve witnessed at other public panels. The day recognized both the lack of prior attention to the impacts of climate on gender inequality and homed in on one of the main impediments to progress: financing for women to tackle climate change. Data from COP27 showed that only about a third of country negotiating teams were made up of women, so the emphasis on gender equality at COP28 was an important step toward correcting the imbalance.
The big-tent approach was not without controversy, with more than 1,300 affiliates of fossil fuel companies in attendance. While four of the top five oil and gas companies—Shell, Chevron, TotalEnergies, and BP—have sent delegates to COP for several years, their presence was more up-front this year. For example, the large pavilion from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries held an event to persuade young people to support fossil fuels. But in speaking with COP28 attendees, I found that many saw the value in having the fossil fuel company executives at the table. I was surprised to hear some attendees defend the presence of fossil fuel companies by arguing that if you exclude them, it is much harder to force them to make the crucial changes to their practices that are essential for real progress on climate. There is no better way to force the private sector polluters to confront the harms their industry has caused for decades. Even al-Jaber was forced to walk back his remarks denying the role of fossil fuels in contributing to continuing warming.
At the most basic level, opening the door for many voices—young people, women, Indigenous people, civil society, and yes, even oil executives—has the potential to disrupt the COP process in a positive way. But unless the public rhetoric around inclusion made in front of the cameras is followed up by real and substantive roles for marginalized communities and with real and serious pressure on the fossil fuel industry and oil-producing countries, COP28 risks its main contribution being youth-, green- and pink-washing, rather than progress.
