Biden may skip COP28. So what’s COP28?

The big idea

Biden may skip COP28. So what’s COP28?

The White House “week ahead” schedule released Sunday night indicates President Biden will skip a big yearly U.N. climate summit that opens this week in Dubai, after attending the meeting his first two years in office and regularly touting his green-energy accomplishments.

On Monday, the White House refused to confirm whether he would be absent from a leaders’ meeting that runs Friday and Saturday but played down the news, pointing to the presence of senior aides like Climate Envoy John Kerry.

The war in Ukraine, Israel’s efforts to stamp out Hamas in the Gaza Strip and end-of-the-year work in Congress are all taking their toll on the presidential schedule. The White House wouldn’t say whether he might address the gathering virtually.

To figure out what this meeting is and whether his absence will matter, we turned to The Climate 202 ’s Maxine Joselow.

D202: What the heck is COP28?

It's the United Nations Climate Change Conference starting Thursday in Dubai. “COP” stands for “Conference of the Parties,” with the word “parties” referring to the nearly 200 countries that agreed to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change in 1992.

Diplomats from these nations have been meeting every year since 1995. This marks the 28th time they have met, hence COP28.

D202: There’s reporting that President Biden won’t attend. Does that matter from a climate policy perspective?

The short answer: Not really. The long answer: It matters more for America's reputation than for international climate policy.

If Biden skips COP28, the United States will face heightened criticism from developing countries, which have done the least to cause climate change but are most vulnerable to its impacts. But several senior administration officials are still attending the summit, including U.S. Climate Envoy John F. Kerry. And it is Kerry — not Biden — who actually does the negotiating at these summits.

D202: What were the agreements/goals from the last COP and have the participants lived up to them?

At last year's COP27 talks in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, countries pledged to end deforestation by 2030 and to slash emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. But today, countries are far from fulfilling these pledges. Deforestation is still rampant, pushing the Amazon rainforest toward a tipping point. And levels of methane in the atmosphere have continued to hit record highs.

D202: What will the big topics be this time around?

Last year, developed nations agreed to establish a fund to help developing countries cope with climate change. Now they face intense pressure to actually contribute cash to the fund. Otherwise, it will just be an empty piggy bank, activists from developing countries say.

Negotiators are also expected to agree on a goal of tripling renewable energy capacity globally by 2030. But it's unclear whether they will agree to phase out fossil fuels, the primary driver of global warming. The United Arab Emirates, a major oil producer, is hosting the talks and could try to block this language.

D202: How will we know whether this COP was a success?

COPs are not like a soccer game, where there is a clear winner and a clear loser. Success and failure are murkier in the world of climate diplomacy. But this COP will be somewhat successful if negotiators agree to anything that helps limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) by the end of the century. That's the goal of the 2015 Paris climate accord, and it's quickly slipping out of reach.

Politics-but-not

What’s happening now

Negotiators push to extend Gaza pause in fighting and continue hostage return

“The two sides have agreed to a 48-hour extension to the initial four-day pause in exchange for the release of 20 more Israeli hostages and 60 Palestinian prisoners. Aid organizations hope that it will allow for the delivery of additional desperately needed supplies to the besieged Palestinian enclave, where the humanitarian situation is worsening as colder winter weather sets in,” Hazem Balousha and Loveday Morris report.

Koch network endorses Nikki Haley for president as it looks to stop Trump

“The powerful political network led by conservative billionaire Charles Koch Nikki Haley for president on Tuesday, as it looks to stop Donald Trump from being the Republican nominee. Americans for Prosperity Action, the network’s flagship political group, announced the group’s first endorsement in a presidential race,” Dylan Wells reports .

Hunter Biden offers to testify publicly before House panel

“Abbe Lowell, a lawyer representing Hunter Biden, disclosed the offer in a letter in response to a subpoena this month that is seeking a deposition, which would take place behind closed doors. It is a striking escalation in the battle between the president’s son and congressional Republicans, who have focused on his past business dealings and have launched impeachment hearings aimed at President Biden ,” Matt Viser reports .

Lunchtime reads from The Post

More people are dying in Puerto Rico as its health-care system crumbles

“The recent jump in mortality is the latest warning sign that years of natural disasters and financial crises have taken a deadly toll. Last year’s spike was concentrated among Puerto Ricans over age 65, with other age groups dying at more typical rates, the analysis found.If Puerto Rico had a more typical population of younger people, the death rate in 2022 would have been the same or potentially even lower than in the rest of the United States, the statistical analysis showed,” Omaya Sosa Pascual, Jeniffer Wiscovitch, Andrew Ba Tran, Arelis R. Hernández and Dylan Moriarty report .

Trump lawyers seek to probe U.S. handling of 2020 election fraud claims

“In court papers filed Monday, Trump’s legal team sought permission to compel prosecutors to turn over information about the FBI, national security and election integrity units of the Justice Department, as well as the intelligence community and Department of Homeland Security’s response to foreign interference and other threats to the 2020 election, in what appeared to be an attempt to resuscitate his unfounded allegation that President Biden’s election victory was 'stolen,'” Spencer S. Hsu and Rachel Weiner report.

These three men are vying to lead Taiwan — and fend off threats from China

“Taiwan will go to the polls on Jan. 13 to choose its next president in a vote that could reignite U.S.-China tensions if Beijing takes the results badly. Beijing calls the race a ‘choice between war and peace’ and it has escalated an intimidation campaign around the island democracy, taking Chinese military aggression in the Taiwan Strait to heights unseen in decades ,” Vic Chiang reports .

The race will also have significant implications for the United States, which acknowledges Beijing’s one-China policy, but supports Taiwan’s democracy and

, which acknowledges Beijing’s one-China policy, but supports Taiwan’s democracy and arms it with weapons.

... and beyond

The cost of doing business with China? A $40,000 dinner with Xi Jinping might be just the start.

“Chief Executive Hock Tan shelled out $40,000 to sit at Xi Jinping’s table for the Chinese leader’s recent dinner in San Francisco with the heads of American businesses. Tan had a lot more at stake — a $69 billion deal he was waiting on China to approve,” the Wall Street Journal’s Lingling Wei and Liza Lin report .

“For months, Chinese regulators wouldn’t clear the U.S. chipmaker’s bid to buy enterprise-software developer VMware, leading Broadcom to put off its date for completion of the deal — first announced in May 2022 — three times. Beijing had held up previous mergers involving U.S. companies. Intel’s planned acquisition of Israeli firm Tower Semiconductor for more than $5 billion, was scuttled in August after Chinese regulators failed to approve it.”

“Some observers saw the moves as olive branches to American corporations as firms grow wary of doing business in China. The moves also show how companies can become pawns in the intensifying geopolitical competition between Washington and Beijing.”

The Biden agenda

Biden highlights Trump’s renewed effort to shelve Affordable Care Act

“Staffers at the Biden campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Del., expedited plans to focus on health care and the contrast between Trump and Biden on the issue, according to two campaign officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss plans that were not yet public.”

Biden to travel to Georgia to celebrate the life of Rosalynn Carter

“The trip comes at an intense time for the president, who has spent countless hours focusing on Israel’s war in Gaza and seeking the release of hostages held by Hamas . But Biden, who often talks about how his life was shaped by the deaths of his first wife and daughter, regularly attends events to commemorate the death of a friend or former colleague,” Marisa Iati reports .

The death rate in Puerto Rico, visualized

“Puerto Rico, with a population of 3.3 million people, experienced more than 35,400 deaths last year. That’s nearly 3,300 more than researchers would ordinarily expect based on historic patterns, according to a statistical analysis by The Post and Puerto Rico’s Center for Investigative Journalism (CPI),” Omaya Sosa Pascual, Jeniffer Wiscovitch, Andrew Ba Tran, Arelis R. Hernández and Dylan Moriarty report .

Hot on the left

New Mexico Supreme Court upholds Democratic-drawn congressional map

“The New Mexico Supreme Court upheld a Democratic-drawn congressional map that divvied up a conservative, oil-producing region and reshaped a swing district along the U.S. border with Mexico, in an order published Monday,” the Associated Press’s Morgan Lee reports .

All five justices signed a shortly worded order to affirm a lower court decision

that the redistricting plan enacted by Democratic state lawmakers in 2021 succeeded in substantially diluting votes of their political opponents — but that the changes fell short of ‘egregious’ gerrymandering.”

Hot on the right

Ron DeSantis meets with potential GOP donors to new super PAC

“Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is meeting Monday with potential donors to Fight Right, a newly formed super PAC that is backing his presidential campaign, amid tensions with another super PAC that culminated last week in the departure of the group’s chief executive,” Amy B Wang and Hannah Knowles report .

In a memo Monday, DeSantis campaign manager James Uthmeier said the campaign would welcome the efforts of Fight Right, while also praising the ‘incredible field operation and ground game’ of Never Back Down, which has played an

, while also praising the ‘incredible field operation and ground game’ of Never Back Down, which has played an unusually large role in DeSantis’s 2024 White House bid.”

Today in Washington

At 1 p.m., the Bidens, Vice President Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff will attend a tribute service for former first lady Rosalynn Carter at the Glenn Memorial Church in Atlanta.

Biden will depart Marietta, Ga., at 3:25 p.m. for Denver, arriving at 6:15 p.m.

At 8 p.m., Biden will participate in a campaign reception in Denver.

In closing

Jill Biden unveils a crafty, candy-filled White House Christmas

“While it’s easy for adults to become jaded about holiday decorations — whether it’s because of the cost, the hassle or the inescapability of it all — children tend to feel unbridled excitement over the bright lights and the promise of toys. It’s that glee that the White House wants to capture with this year’s sparkling holiday display, with its ‘Magic, Wonder, and Joy’ theme,” Jura Koncius and Rachel Kurzius report .

Thanks for reading. See you tomorrow.