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Science Weekly

All the drama from the first week of Cop28

Science Weekly

The Guardian

Science

4.21K Ratings

🗓️ 7 December 2023

⏱️ 18 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Madeleine Finlay hears from the biodiversity and environment reporter Patrick Greenfield, who is reporting for the Guardian from Cop28 in Dubai. He describes the rollercoaster first week of highs and lows, which included an important agreement on loss and damage and a tetchy press conference from the summit president, Sultan Al Jaber. He also sets out what is still on the table as the second week of negotiations gets under way • This episode was amended on 7 December to reflect the fact that Sheikh Ahmed did not want to be interviewed. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod

Transcript

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0:00.0

This is the Guardian.

0:09.0

Well, if you're not this wall through, you could open plan the living area.

0:12.0

So I'm thinking burnt oka paired with some terracotta times.

0:15.2

Very in season right now.

0:16.5

When it comes to making big decisions for how we improve our homes, we rely on the advice of experts.

0:21.5

So shouldn't it be the same for the way we heat and power them at

0:24.4

EDF waste specialists in low-carbon technology for homes? We've installed thousands of air source

0:29.2

heat pumps, solar panels and batteries across the country and we also have useful content to help you make

0:34.1

the right decision for your home. search EDF meeting. There's a lot to get done and the stakes couldn't be higher as once again

0:57.0

this week scientists are warning that humanity is racing towards disastrous global tipping points that could trigger planetary shifts unleashing

1:06.3

dangerous and sweeping damage to nature and people that can't be undone. So, no pressure. And as we head into the second week, it feels like things

1:20.6

have been off to a rocky start in Dubai with COP28 President Al-Jaba

1:26.2

making some surprising comments on Sunday.

1:29.6

So he can be very charming but he was clearly in a bad mood maybe in this interaction and he was insisting that there was no science behind the phase out of fossil fuels.

1:41.0

Guardian biodiversity reporter Patrick Greenfield was there to see the repercussions

1:46.2

unfold. It was extraordinary. I was in the room. It was a bit like when a press,

1:50.9

like a football manager loses it in a press conference and yeah it was it was

1:54.8

high drama. But while it seems as if Al Jabber's comments have undermined his

1:59.9

conference things aren't so bad on the ground.

2:03.0

It's more positive here than it might seem from maybe a fart.

2:09.0

So what's been happening at COPS so far, what's been big on the agenda, and has any progress

2:17.7

been made?

...

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