After a fast start, COP28 climate talks now in murky middle of hope, roadblocks

By SETH BORENSTEIN and DANA BELTAJI
Associated Press

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — After a first-day blur of rare quick action and agreement, negotiators at a critical United Nations climate conference Wednesday are finishing up their first week in a more familiar place for them: the murky middle where momentum and roadblocks intertwine. Proponents who are calling for a ground-shifting phase-out of fossil fuels have hope for the first time in years, but also see where it could be torpedoed. Officials say key issues of financial help for poor nations to decarbonize and how to adapt to warming need much more work.