The American president will skip COP28 in Dubai. Neither Joe Biden’s nor Vice President Kamala Harris’ agenda, both released by the White House, mentions a trip to Dubai this week. The UN climate conference, taking place in the United Arab Emirates from Thursday to December 12, is expected to bring together a record number of more than 70,000 participants, including Pope Francis, according to the Emirati presidency.
Joe Biden’s agenda includes a visit to Colorado to promote American investment in wind energy, a meeting with the president of Angola and the lighting of the national Christmas tree. A US official confirmed that the US president did not plan to attend COP28 this week or during a second session near the end of negotiations.
A meeting that is anything but essential for American presidents
According to the same source, who requested anonymity, Washington is still considering the possibility of sending a senior official to Dubai. John Kerry, the American climate envoy, also a former secretary of state and former senator, will lead the negotiations for the United States. The official did not share the reason for the decision by Joe Biden, whose attention since last month has been focused on the war between Israel and Hamas. Less than a year before the presidential election, the American president is trying to highlight his projects at home.
It was not customary for the US president to attend every UN climate conference before Joe Biden arrived at the White House. The Democratic president traveled to COP26 in Glasgow in 2021 – to announce the US return to the fight against global warming after his predecessor Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris Agreement – and to COP27 last year in Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt.