Reports from Syrian state-run media SANA News says that President Bashar Assad was invited to COP28 by the leader of the UAE – Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
The 28th Conference of Parties (COP) which are to be held in Dubai Expo City from November 30 to December 12 is already being criticized for its host choice to nominate oil tycoon and head of the dominating state oil company, Sultan al-Jaber as president of the talks.
This recent invite of the repressive Syrian leadership rings new alarm bells – along with claims that COP is asking for huge sponsorship sums from brands to execute the conference.
Under the leadership of President Assad, Syria has been embroiled in an unending civil war. It started as one of the uprisings during the Arab Spring and has descended into carnage.
An estimated half a million people have been killed by the war – and half of the Syrian population has been displaced.
Notwithstanding this, the invitation of President Assad is in line with current trends of bringing him once again within the fold of the League of Arab Nations. He was invited and will reportedly attend the Summit scheduled for this Friday in Jeddah.
Representatives of the Opposition Party in Syria are angered by the League’s decision.
The COP, while focused on finding the best possible solution for the climate crisis collaboratively, is also a political event. The Conference of Parties are the governments that signed the Paris Agreement. Syria is one of those countries, being a signatory of both the Paris Agreement and the Kyoto Protocol.
“I was very surprised by this decision because I expected our Arab brothers, leaders, and princes to hold Bashar al-Assad accountable for his crimes against the Syrian people over the past 12 years, not to help wash the stains of our blood and body parts of our children and women,” Ghassan al-Yousef, a Syrian dissident from the town of al-Tah in southern Idlib, told Al Jazeera.
While the invite may very well increase scrutiny for the UAE, a spokesperson in a statement outlined, “the event marks a milestone opportunity for the world to come together, course correct and drive progress toward keeping the goals and ambition of the Paris Climate Agreement alive “
