“Bigger, more inclusive, Dubai” – Laura Schuhn at COP28
As part of her doctoral project in the field of environmental policy in Saudi Arabia, Laura Schuhn (research group Prof. Dr. Thomas Demmelhuber) took part in COP28 in Dubai. Around 70.000 delegates from 200 countries as well as representatives from business and civil society negotiated measures to mitigate and adapt to climate change at the World Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai starting at November 30. The organizers of the conference have set themselves the goal of holding the largest and most inclusive COP. The United Arab Emirates (UAE), as the host of the climate conference, and COP28 President Sultan Al Jaber were repeatedly criticized: the UAE is one of the world’s largest producers of climate-damaging natural gas and oil. In addition to his role as President of this year’s climate conference, Sultan Al Jaber is also Chairman of the Board of the state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC). In particular, the question of whether the COP’s final declaration will talk about a complete “phase-out” or a “phase-down” of fossil fuels with the help of technology such as carbon capture storage (CCS) was vividly debated during the last days of the conference. For Laura Schuhn it was an excellent opportunity to get in touch with decision-makers. Now, she is back in Saudi Arabia for further field research.