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Transcript/Script((PLAYBOOK SLUG: COP28 PREVIEW
HEADLINE: Dubai Hosts COP28 Summit Amid Intensifying Climate Emergency
TEASER: 2023 set to be hottest year ever as scientists warn of irreversible and catastrophic climate change
PUBLISHED AT: 11/29/2023 at 11am
BYLINE: Henry Ridgwell
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: London
VIDEOGRAPHER: Henry Ridgwell
VIDEO EDITOR:
SCRIPT EDITORS: LR, Bill Ide
VIDEO SOURCE (S): APTN, Reuters, AFP, Zoom
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB _X_ TV _X_ RADIO __
TRT: 3:03
VID APPROVED BY: MAS
TYPE: TVPKG
EDITOR NOTES))
((INTRO)) [The COP28 climate summit gets under way in Dubai Thursday. As Henry Ridgwell reports, the meeting comes at what scientists say is a crucial moment in the fight against global warming, with warnings the world is on the brink of irreversible and catastrophic climate change.]]
((NARRATOR))
Scientists expect 2023 to go down as the hottest year on record. Fearsome heat, forest fires and flash storms have characterized a year of extreme weather around the world.
Against that urgent backdrop, 70-thousand delegates from 197 nations gather in Dubai for the two-week COP28 climate summit, beginning Thursday. Observers call it a crucial moment.
((FOR RADIO: Tom Rivett-Carnac is a former strategist at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.))
((Tom Rivett-Carnac, Former UN Climate Change Strategist IN ENGLISH))
((cf. Zoom logo))
“This is the launch of what's called the “global stock take”. So, this is the first time since the Paris Agreement (in 2014) the world has taken stock of how are we doing on the objectives we set ourselves back then. And it's challenging to see what that report says. We should be reducing our emissions by 43%. By the end of this decade, that latest trajectory suggests they're actually going to rise by 9%, with catastrophic impacts for people all over the world.”
The COP summits involve complex negotiations. Most countries want to reduce global emissions. Less developed nations say richer nations are responsible for most historic greenhouse gas emissions – and therefore they should compensate poorer nations for reducing their use of fossil fuels.
Poorer nations also need help to adapt to the changing climate.
((FOR RADIO: Again, Tom Rivett-Carnac.))
((Tom Rivett-Carnac, Former UN Climate Change Strategist IN ENGLISH))
((cf. Zoom logo))
“Last year, the big outcome was a commitment to create a fund for loss and damage for those impacts that we can't avoid. What we need to see this year is that that fund takes another step towards becoming reality.”
The Paris Agreement aims to limit global warming to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, by 2050.
Visiting Antarctica this month – where the ice is now melting three times faster than in the 1990s - the United Nations Secretary General said the culprit was clear.
((FOR RADIO: Visiting Antarctica this month – where the ice is now melting three times faster than in the 1990s - the United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said the culprit was clear.))
((Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary-General IN ENGLISH))
“It is absolutely critical to end the addiction to fossil fuels. Fossil fuels are the first source of climate change, and I hope that the next COP will be able to decide the phase out of fossil fuels with a clear time frame that is compatible to guarantee that the temperature will not rise more than 1.5 degrees [Celsius].”
The leaders of the world’s two biggest economies - U.S. President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping - agreed to deepen cooperation on climate change during talks in November.
((REST OPT))
((FOR RADIO: Former UN strategist Tom Rivett-Carnac.))
((Tom Rivett-Carnac, Former UN Climate Change Strategist IN ENGLISH))
((cf. Zoom logo))
“What you see is that if the US and China are in lockstep and have a clear sense of what they want to achieve together, it's much easier for the world to come together around those commitments.”
However, a U.S. official said this week that President Biden would not be attending the COP28 talks. No reason was given.
US climate envoy John Kerry will be leading day-to-day negotiations for the United States.
((Henry Ridgwell, VOA News, London.))
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