Iranian representatives left the negotiations at the UN climate conference in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), on Friday in protest at the presence of the Israeli delegation, state media reported, Belga reports.
Iranians believe that Israel’s presence at COP28 is “contrary to the goals and guidelines of the conference, and as a sign of protest they are leaving the conference hall,” said the head of the Iranian delegation, Energy Minister Ali Akbar Mehrabian, as quoted by Iran’s official IRNA news agency.
Iran, which does not recognize Israel, has supported Hamas, mostly since the Palestinian movement carried out a bloody attack on Israeli territory on October 7.
In a telephone conversation with his Emirati counterpart, Abdallah bin Zayed Al Nahjane, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdolahian this week “expressed regret” over the presence of the Israeli delegation at the COP.
Meanwhile, fighting in Gaza is raging again. The Israeli army announced new safe zones for civilians on Friday morning.
“An interactive map of evacuation zones has been published on the Internet in Arabic as preparation for the next phase of the war,” it is stated.
Conferences of the Parties (COPs) are how the world organizes its collective response to the global challenge of climate change. World leaders gathered at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, to seal the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The Convention launched annual meetings of the COP, to act to avoid the impacts of climate change. The 21st session of the COP (COP21) in 2015 led to the landmark Paris Agreement, where countries pledged to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions this century and limit global average warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. COP28 is a milestone moment, as nations for the first time formally review progress since the Paris Agreement, under a Global Stocktake. A climate emergency is here, but so is hope.
Photo: European Council
