Excerpt and Photo from asia.nikkei.com
About 150 heads of state and representatives flocked to Dubai to present their priorities at the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28).
From growing headwinds against coal power to a push for climate justice, here are some key takeaways for Asia from the two-day leaders’ summit which wrapped up Saturday.
U.S., France pile pressure on Asia-Pacific’s coal-dependent industrialized countries
The U.S., represented by President Joe Biden’s climate envoy John Kerry, joined over 50 countries on Saturday in committing to stop building coal plants and speedily phase out existing ones by signing on to the Powering Past Coal Alliance, a 2017 initiative led by the U.K. and Canada.
“This puts significant pressure on those few remaining [major] countries that haven’t yet committed to this, particularly Japan, Australia and South Korea,” said Leo Roberts at U.K.-based climate think tank E3G.