COP28 climate summit to kick off this week. What are Canada’s priorities?

After a summer of record-breaking heat and unprecedented wildfires, world leaders will gather Thursday for two weeks of climate change negotiations in Dubai.

Canada’s image at the world’s signature climate negotiations could be complicated by infighting, some observers fear, as two of the federal government’s ardent critics at the provincial level look to capture attention at the United Nations climate summit known as COP28.

But others say tensions between the federal government and the premiers of Alberta and Saskatchewan, two provincial leaders who have confirmed their attendance at the conference, could take a back seat at the summit.

After a summer of record-breaking heat and unprecedented wildfires, world leaders will gather Thursday for two weeks of climate change negotiations in Dubai.

From talk of fossil fuel phaseouts to climate finance, here’s what you need to know ahead of COP28.

In name, it’s the 28th Conference of the Parties – COP28 – who have signed the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

In practice, it’s an often contentious summit of the 197 signatory countries where leaders take stock of previous commitments and hammer out new pledges. Think of the Paris Agreement, which came out of COP21, where countries agreed to keep global temperature rise well below 2 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial times, and aim for 1.5 degrees.

This year’s summit will take place from Nov. 30 to Dec. 12.

One of the storylines in the lead up to negotiations has been the United Arab Emirates’ move to name the head of its state-run oil company to oversee the climate talks. Civil society groups have claimed Sultan al-Jaber’s appointment is an example of corporate capture of the summit, which has been criticized for its weak conflict-of-interest safeguards and for being well attended by fossil fuel lobbyists.