COP28—the United Nations’ annual meeting on climate change—is underway in Dubai, and has attracted a wide range of climate advocates, world leaders, and NGOs, such as The Nature Conservancy, working in the climate space. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and UAE Special Envoy for Climate Change, has been appointed to serve as COP28 President-Designate. In a letter to the parties the Incoming Presidency announced four paradigm shifts upon which COP28 will focus:

Climate finance was among the first of the critical decisions on the agenda. The loss and damage fund was agreed to during COP27, but without any logistics relative to where the funding would come from and how they would be distributed. On the first day of the meeting, rules for the fund, which developing nations fought more than 30 years to create, were adopted, according to The New York Times. Although there is still much work to be done before developing nations will see any funding, this early adoption was widely viewed as a positive sign for outcomes of the summit.

According to the Times article, “The United Arab Emirates and Germany each pledged $100 million toward the fund and the United Kingdom pledged about $76 million. Japan pledged $10 million. The European Union would contribute at least €225 million (about $245 million) ... the United States promised $17.5 million, an amount that some activists criticized as too low for the world’s largest economy and biggest historic source of greenhouse gases.”