The crunch climate talks being held in Dubai from November 30 to December 12 will be the 28th such gathering of world leaders under UN auspices known as COPs.

AFP unpacks the workings of the high-level summit, where countries will aim to thrash out a new agreement as accelerating climate change threatens the world with costly and destructive consequences.

What is a COP? 

COP stands for Conference of the Parties, referring to the 198 parties including the European Union that have signed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, originally adopted in Brazil in 1992.

COPs have been held every year in different cities since 1995, with the exception of COP26 in Glasgow, which was delayed by a year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

They are numbered in chronological order, with the United Arab Emirates welcoming the world’s movers and shakers at COP28 after taking over the presidency from COP27 hosts Egypt.

COPs also exist for other UN conventions and treaties on issues including desertification and biodiversity.

What are the outcomes? 

The long, complex and occasionally acrimonious negotiations between world leaders are supposed to end with a final text, which is often hammered out well past the official deadline.

Numerous lobbyists, NGOs, international organisations and other observers gather on the sidelines of the talks.

The agreement must be reached by consensus, meaning different positions and interests have to be reconciled, all while aiming for progress in the fight against climate change.

Outcomes of little substance have emerged from some COPs, in stark contrast with the acceleration of climate change and its increasingly destructive consequences.

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has dismissed COPs as “greenwashing machines”, summing up the result of a recent summit as “bla, bla, bla”.

In 2009, COP15 in Copenhagen was widely viewed as a failure as no global deal was reached, despite a last-minute text involving the world’s two largest economies, the United States and China.

But other editions have a more favourable place in history, notably COP21 in 2015, which gave birth to the historic Paris Agreement that 195 parties have ratified.

The accord was the first to unite the international community behind the goal of keeping global temperature rises “well below” two degrees Celsius compared with industrial levels, and to 1.5C if possible.

In a first, COP26 in 2021 designated fossil fuels as the primary cause of global warming, but under pressure from China and India the final text only called for a “phasedown” of coal rather than a “phaseout”.

What to expect this year? 

COP28 is due to host a record 80,000 people, according to the Emirati presidency.

The choice of Sultan Al Jaber — head of the UAE’s national oil company ADNOC — as COP president has sparked fury among environmental campaigners.

But Jaber and others see it as an opportunity for a business leader from the fossil fuel industry to discuss the energy transition, which will once again be a key topic of discussion.

The COP presidency has set concrete goals for 2030: tripling global renewable energy capacity as well as doubling energy efficiency and hydrogen production.

COP28 will also see a first “global stocktake” of the world’s progress in achieving the Paris goals.

A technical report released in September concluded — unsurprisingly — that the world was well off course and that “much more is needed now on all fronts”.

As always, money will be at the centre of bitter debate.

Rich countries have pledged financial support for developing nations to help them adapt to and mitigate the havoc wrought by climate change.

A historic “loss and damage” fund for vulnerable countries was agreed at COP27, but its governance, location and funding mechanisms remain up in the air.

Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Monday alleged that Kerala under Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has shown tolerance towards radical elements and radicalisation.

Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Chandrasekhar was hitting back at the Chief Minister who a day ago slammed the BJP leader over his social media posts criticising Mr Vijayan over the blasts at a religious gathering in Kalamassery near here.

Terming the BJP leader’s posts as part of his communal stand, Mr Vijayan, without naming Mr Chandrasekhar, sought to know based on what information the union minister made such remarks against him and how a person holding a responsible position could come out with such statements while the investigation was going on.

Mr Vijayan, during a brief press meet held at the Secretariat complex in Thiruvananthapuram, had alleged that the statements by the BJP leader were the reflection of an absolute communal outlook.

Responding to the Chief Minister’s remarks, Mr Chandrasekhar clarified that he did not mention any community in his post on the social media platform X.

“I had talked about Hamas and it was almost like the CM was trying to equate Hamas with the broader Muslim brothers and sisters of our state and country,” he contended.

Mr Chandrasekhar, on Sunday after reports of the blasts came out, had posted on X — “Dirty shameless appeasement politics by a discredited CM (and HM) @pinarayivijayan besieged by corruption charges.

“Sitting in Delhi and protesting against Israel, when in Kerala open calls by Terrorist Hamas for Jihad is causing attacks and bomb blasts on innocent Christians.” The Union Minister said that his post was “in the context of the Hamas chief being given an opportunity, with no intervention by the Kerala government or police, to address a large gathering of youth and inciting them with radicalism.” “What I have said, what I have always said and what our party has always said is that under Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Kerala has increasingly shown a tolerance towards radical elements and radicalisation,” Mr Chandrasekhar alleged.

He further alleged that both the Congress and the Left in Kerala have a history of appeasement of radical elements in the state.

The Union MoS claimed that both of them have been turning a blind eye to the growing radicalism in the southern state.

The blasts occurred at a convention centre in Kalamassery near Kochi that was hosting a prayer meeting of the Jehovah’s Witnesses — a Christian religious group that originated in the US in the 19th century — on Sunday.

Initially, one woman had died and 60 were injured, six of them critically, in the blasts.

Subsequently, one of the six critically injured — a 53-year-old woman — succumbed to her injuries.

By Monday morning, the death toll rose to three with the death of a 12-year-old girl who had suffered 95 per cent burns in the incident. 

American hockey player Adam Johnson, known for his 13 NHL appearances with the Pittsburgh Penguins, died following a “freak accident” during a game in England on Saturday. He was 29.

He was representing Nottingham Panthers in a Challenge Cup game.

“The Nottingham Panthers are truly devastated to announce that Adam Johnson has tragically passed away following a freak accident at the game in Sheffield last night,” the team said Sunday morning.

Here are 5 facts about the player

– Johnson’s career took him on a journey through different leagues. He played 13 games in the NHL for the Pittsburgh Penguins during the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons and then headed to Sweden to join the Malmo Redhawks for the 2020-21 season.

– Being part of Minnesota-Duluth’s college hockey team, Johnson steered them to two NCAA tournaments. In 2017, his overtime victory against Boston University secured a spot for Minnesota-Duluth in the Frozen Four.

– Adam Johnson wasn’t limited to one league. He also made stops in the American Hockey League and even ventured to Germany to play for the Augsburg Panthers in 2022-23. His next destination was Nottingham for the 2023-24 season.

– Adam Johnson was born in 1994 in Hibbing, a city in Minnesota, US.

– In the aftermath of Adam Johnson’s tragic passing, The UK Elite League made the announcement that three games scheduled for Sunday in Belfast, Fife, and Guildford had been postponed.