Highlights and images for 5 December 2023

The day was double-billed as Indigenous Peoples Day and Energy Transition Day. There were few, if any, new declarations or funding announcements. Indigenous Knowledge Holders held a dialogue with countries and other stakeholders. Many acknowledged the importance of meaningful inclusion of Indigenous Peoples in climate policies and action. Yet, in the draft decision on gender, references to Indigenous women and women in local communities were removed, which many countries saw as "a step backward."

Want to dig deeper into today's talks? Read the full Earth Negotiations Bulletin daily report.

Likewise, in several negotiation sessions, including the Global Stocktake, non-market mechanisms, and technology, countries often urged recognition of Indigenous Peoples’ rights and inclusion in decision making.

Energy Transition Day attracted considerable attention. Actions around the venue chanted and demonstrated for an end to fossil fuels. The Presidency convened high-level roundtables on hydrogen, and on renewables and energy efficiency. Most concretely, a high-level dialogue focused on electrifying cooking. Globally, household air pollution associated with solid fuel for cooking results in 2.4 million premature deaths each year.

Energy was a key theme of the negotiations, many of which are struggling to complete draft decisions and conclusions before the Subsidiary Bodies close on Wednesday, 6 December. Discussions on the just transition pathways work programme proved so divisive that delegates met in informal informal consultations to try landing on a text that can be forwarded to ministers during the second week of the conference. The same efforts were seen on the Global Stocktake, mitigation work programme, and more. The task for these negotiators is to prepare a text replete with options that will help ministers negotiate the final COP 28 package.