We're expecting to hear from King Charles in the next hour or so but a small part of his address has been released to the media already.

He's expected to say he hopes COP28 will be a "critical turning point towards genuine transformational action", and to tell the gathered leaders and negotiators that the "hope of the world" rests on their decisions.

King Charles is also expected to say that, despite some progress, repeated warning signs of climate change are being ignored, bringing devastating consequences for lives and livelihoods around the world.

He has spent much of his life campaigning to protect the environment, and has already opened two UN climate summits - COP26 in Glasgow in 2021, and COP21 in Paris in 2015 - when he was the Prince of Wales.

But this will be his first COP as king, and now he's subject to different rules - with the British monarch obliged to remain politically neutral.

Image source, Getty Images

Matt McGrath
Environment correspondent, at COP28

Still basking in the afterglow of a successful first day, when delegates agreed on a new cash fund for countries suffering from climate impacts, the leaders of COP28 will be hoping today’s parade of leaders will build on that goodwill.

Among the first speakers, King Charles is expected to say that he prays this COP will be a critical turning point – he will likely say that warning signs are being ignored.

Other world leaders that will be watched closely will be India’s Narendra Modi, and Brazil’s Lula, and Kenya’s William Ruto, underlining that this the voices of the global south are very much front and centre at this gathering.

Expect most of the speakers to arrive with new promises of greener actions and some will bring cash to add to the new loss and damage fund.

Many will also endorse a call to triple renewable energy by 2030 – an idea that’s gaining momentum and if enough countries back it, would represent another win for COP28 organisers.

Malu Cursino
Live reporter, at COP28

Image source, EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

We'll be hearing from several world leaders soon, as they set out their ambitions for what needs to be achieved in the next two weeks of climate talks.

But before that all gets going, let's recap some of the key moments from day one here at Expo City in Dubai yesterday.

• The COP presidency was officially handed over to COP28 President Sultan al-Jaber, who urged international delegates to "never lose sight of our North Star - 1.5C" - an ambition set out in the Paris agreement back in 2015 to ensure countries collectively limited global temperature rise to no more than 1.5C higher than pre-industrial levels.
• But the showstopper was the historic loss and damage fund agreement, in the making for many years. Countries pledged at least $420m to help countries most vulnerable to climate-related disasters like flooding and droughts, which are contributing factors to long-term food insecurity.
• The optimism here was tangible after the announcement, as pacific island delegations and non-governmental organisation representatives that I spoke to warmly welcomed the "rapid" agreement on a widely contested subject, albeit with caution.

Food security and engagement with gas and oil companies are also top priorities at this COP, so let's see how the next two weeks unfold.

Good morning. It's a little after 11:00am in Dubai, where a spectacular array of presidents, prime ministers and monarchs are (we guess) having a final look through their speeches on the future of our planet.

In the next hour, Britain's King Charles will deliver an opening address kicking off two-days packed with world leaders' speeches to this year's UN climate summit.

Our team on the ground are poised to navigate it all - from the plenary room, to the side events, to the chat in the toilet queues - to bring you live news and analysis from COP28. Stay with us.

Heather Sharp
Live reporter

Image source, Reuters

We're wrapping up today's live coverage of the COP28 UN climate summit in Dubai - here's what you need to know from day one.

It began with stark warnings from the UN chief that "we are living through climate collapse in real time".

António Guterres said the news that it's "virtually certain" 2023 will be the hottest year on record should "send shivers down the spines of world leaders".

COP president - and UAE state oil company boss - Sultan al-Jaber gave a rousing speech, urging the thousands of participants to rise above their differences. The world had "reached a crossroads", he declared.

And then, hot on the heels of that speech, came an unexpected, actual announcement.

The historic fund for countries suffering the effects of climate change - the subject of a lot of wrangling since it was agreed in principle at least year's CO27 summit - is getting up and running.

Countries including the UAE, UK and US have pledged "north of $420m", Jaber said later, hailing it as a "unique, unprecedented achievement" and a "very good start".

We'll be back tomorrow with more COP28 coverage - when we expect to hear from King Charles III.

In the meantime, got a spare 30 minutes?

• Listen to the inside track from our climate editor Justin Rowlatt on the Global Story podcast here
• Watch our Panorama investigation on why the world is still searching for oil, coal and gas here

Matt McGrath
Environment correspondent, at COP28

As the first day of COP28 draws to a close - and it's past dinner time here in Dubai - which would you prefer: A main course or a bunch of sides?

The hosts of COP28 are offering both.

The UAE wants to secure a big, bold main deal agreed by all parties, but they are also pushing for a range of smaller, sideline agreements on a range of issues.

This trend started back at COP26 in Glasgow where the UK helped broker a range of side deals such as the promise to end deforestation by 2030, and a methane pledge signed by over 100 countries.

These mini-deals are wildly popular among leaders, who get the credit, without having to sign up to anything legally binding.

But critics say these deals are the climate equivalent of a sugar rush - all about the headlines, there’s no monitoring or enforcement. Among those signing the deforestation pledge in Glasgow was, Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro – while also overseeing a massive increase in tree cutting in his country!

Image source, Reuters

Here in Dubai the hosts are pushing a voluntary pledge from oil and gas companies to curb their emissions, a big improvement on to the methane promise plus new restrictions on air conditioning and private finance for coal.

Will these sides amount to much? We’ll have a good idea in two weeks’ time.

It's just after 21:00 in Dubai, and 17:00 in London. Let's take a look back at some of the photos from the first day of the UN's annual climate conference in the United Arab Emirates:

Image source, PA Media

Image source, EPA

Image source, EPA

Image source, Reuters

How can we keep to the 1.5C limit when we're almost there already?published at 16:46 Greenwich Mean Time 30 November 2023

16:46 GMT 30 November 2023

Esme Stallard
Climate reporter

Carlo in the UK asks: Previous COP summits have stated the importance of the 1.5C limit and net zero. How is this possible when we are almost at 1.5C already?

When we talk about the 1.5C limit, we are talking about the increase in average global temperatures since pre-industrial times, before human activities started producing greenhouse gas emissions on the scale which drives climate change.

The 1.5C threshold is what climate scientists say we must keep below to prevent the worst impacts of climate change.

The WMO report out today, external says currently global temperatures over the last decade are 1.19C above average.

There is serious concern from scientists that the goal is slipping away - to keep it alive will require consistent and far-reaching reductions in global emissions.

Read more: Carbon emissions threaten 1.5C climate threshold sooner than thought, study says

Can oil companies attend COP summits?published at 16:29 Greenwich Mean Time 30 November 2023

16:29 GMT 30 November 2023

Esme Stallard
Climate reporter, at COP28

John Simpson, New Zealand asks: Are oil companies allowed access to the COP talks?

This is a bit nuanced. The COP talks have two different areas - the blue zone and the green zone. The blue zone is where all the official discussions happen, while the green zone is more of a trade fair.

To get access to the blue zone you have to either be press, in a country's negotiating team, running events or an observer organisation such as a charity, university or research group.

Private companies are not allowed access. However, in the past, oil companies have been invited in by countries as part of their delegations - the head of Exxon Mobil is currently in attendance.

Image source, EPA

And we know that Sultan al-Jaber, the president of COP28, is himself the head of UAE's state oil firm Adnoc

In his opening speech he said that the UAE's COP28 presidency had "made a bold choice" to engage with oil and gas firms, and many national oil companies had adopted net zero targets for the first time.

Let's be clear though, these company targets refer only to their operations - not to the emissions released when the oil and gas they produce are actually used.

Malu Cursino
Live reporter, at COP28

I've been talking to Partha Hefaz Shaikh from the charity WaterAid Bangladesh.

He's pleased about today's announcements about the "loss and damage" fund for nations affected by climate change.

He notes that "if the money is given to the most vulnerable... definitely it'll make a difference".

Shaikh says it is important to understand exactly how the money pledged will be given to countries, under what terms and conditions it is being given, and also, later on, how the countries handle the money.

There's still a lot to be discussed both on an international and national level, he adds.

And he says when money is spent on loss and damage - impacts that communities have suffered or are already suffering - it should be used to build resilient communities and infrastructure that are "future-hazards proof".

In the words of the UN’s climate chief, we’re “severely off track”.

Scientists say that to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, the world should be no more than 1.5C warmer by 2100 than it was in pre-industrial times. But temperatures have already gone up by about 1.1C.

Emissions of the greenhouse gases that cause climate change are at a record high and still rising, though the pace of the increase has slowed since the early years of this century.

To limit warming to 1.5C, scientists say these emissions need to start going down within the next year or so, and be cut by 43% by 2030.

As you can see in the graph, if countries carry on with their current policies, the planet is on track for at least 2.6C of warming, according to Climate Action Tracker.

Even if they fulfil all the pledges they’ve made and meet the targets they have set, we’re still heading for a 2C rise.

If this seems bleak, remember that when the Paris Agreement was signed in 2015, policies at the time put the world on track for 3.6C of warming - so progress has been made.

How can the US hold China to account on climate?published at 15:37 Greenwich Mean Time 30 November 2023

15:37 GMT 30 November 2023

Matt McGrath
Environment correspondent, reporting from COP28

Jeff asks: How will President Biden and the US hold the Chinese accountable to any climate agreements made at the summit?

President Biden’s best method of holding China accountable on any climate deal agreed here in Dubai, would be to hold his tongue and put his faith in peer pressure.

Climate agreements like the Paris agreement generally avoid the big stick, preferring to encourage and sometimes embarrass countries large and small into compliance.

In relation to China, this has been a very successful approach so far.

China has achieved what it promised in Copenhagen in 2009 and is well on track to beat what was agreed in Paris.

True, these were the easy bits as previous pacts allowed China to continue to increase overall emissions but at a slower rate.

But by not criticising China in public and by encouraging the Asian giant’s engagement with the UN process, the US has helped the country to greater ambition.

In 2020 President Xi announced that China would peak emissions before 2030. Such has been the acceleration of renewables there’s a growing view that China might achieve this goal by next year - with huge implications for the rest of the world.

Which countries are developing more fossil fuels?published at 15:31 Greenwich Mean Time 30 November 2023

15:31 GMT 30 November 2023

Esme Stallard
Climate reporter

Verna McDonald, Canada asks: Which countries are still increasing fossil fuel infrastructure and starting new projects?Two years ago at COP26 the stand out moment was that countries agreed to “phase down” the use of coal. It is now hoped that this pledge can be moved forward in Dubai with a commitment to either phase down or phase out all fossil fuels.

However, over the last year a number of countries - who are expected to lead the charge on reducing emissions - have actually expanded their fossil fuel infrastructure.

Just a few months ago UK PM Rishi Sunak gave the go ahead for new oil and gas licences and US President Biden gave the green light to the Willow Oil Project in Alaska in March, whilst China approved 50.4GW of new coal power in the first half of 2023.

There is concern amongst countries and organisations pushing for a full phase out that instead of there being an agreement on using less fossil fuels, these nations will rely on carbon capture and storage - the technology that takes carbon released from burning these fuels and stores it in the ground.

It is not entirely clear what the President of COP28, Sultan Al Jaber, will push for. In July he said “phasing down of fossil fuels is inevitable”, but then he has also said “we must be laser-focused on phasing out fossil fuel emissions” - the addition of the word emissions seems to suggest that countries may be allowed to continue using oil and gas but with carbon capture.

Read more: COP28 'moment of truth' for oil industry, says energy boss - BBC News

How can we have faith in COP summits?published at 15:20 Greenwich Mean Time 30 November 2023

15:20 GMT 30 November 2023

Georgina Rannard
Climate reporter at COP28

John O'Malley in the UK asks: How can we have any faith in the COP summits? Has anything tangible come from these or are governments just kicking the can down the road?

That's a question we can all identify with.

COPs can look like all talk but no action. But there is a reason that thousands of politicians, NGO workers and activists come to them year after year. It's not perfect, but the UN process has got closer to addressing climate change than anything else.

And it's a global problem so all nations need to be involved.

Just today, a new fund was set up to provide money to poor nations who can't recover from climate impacts - it was agreed on last year and nations today announced millions of dollars of funding.

And since the landmark Paris agreement in 2015, there have been huge strides forward in renewable energy and electric vehicles that are pushing countries closer to achieving their net zero goals promised.

But John is right that this has not yet solved the huge threat that climate poses to our planet.

If you have just joined us or need a recap, here's what's been happening so far at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai.

• A least $420m has been committed to a new “loss and damage” fund to help countries hit by climate-related disasters
• The host country, the United Arab Emirates, pledged £79m ($100m), the UK £60m ($76m) and the US £13.8m ($17.5m)
• Sultan al-Jaber, the president of COP28 and head of the UAE’s state oil company, hailed the progress on the fund as a "unique milestone" and a "very good start" on the first day of the summit
• He also urged countries to promise to make deeper cuts to their emissions, work together to triple renewable power capacity and double energy efficiency
• UN secretary-general António Guterres said "we are living through climate collapse in real time" after the World Meteorological Organization said that this year is "virtually certain" be the hottest year on record

You can watch the livestream of the summit by clicking the play button at the top of the page.

Meanwhile, our team of reporters at COP28 have been taking a look at the questions you've been sending in - stay with us as we bring you their answers.

Georgina Rannard
Climate reporter at COP28

Image source, Reuters

After a very long delay, as delegates in the plenary continued to talk, COP28 president Sultan al-Jaber has just spoken.

He says he is proud of the announcement that the new "loss and damage" fund for countries affected by climate change will get up and running.

He said the threshold for establishing the fund had been $200m, but pledges already amounted to $420m.

"This is unprecedented. The fact that we've been able to deliver on what was promised in Sharm el-Sheikh [at least year's COP27 summit] is historic. It's a unique, unprecedented achievement," he says.

He says this was not a small achievement and it is historic to "achieve such a significant milestone on the first day of COP".

"It's a very good start. Now the real work only begins," he adds.

"We commit and we deliver. That's the DNA of this COP28," he says.

Matt McGrath
Environment correspondent, at COP28

Image source, Getty Images

The money committed to the new "loss and damage" fund for countries hit by climate-related disasters has been welcomed here at COP28, but there's less to celebrate about the wider picture when it comes to climate cash.

While the rich world is likely to have delivered the long promised $100bn a year to developing nations in 2022 (according, external to the OECD, external), this sum has aged badly.

Contrast the mythical $100bn that failed to appear on time, with the $1.7 trillion in public money that the International Institute for Sustainable Development says governments spent supporting the fossil fuel industries in the same year!

Even the money that has been supposedly earmarked for climate change doesn’t always materialise. Data from poverty campaigners, ONE, shows that $343bn, almost two-thirds of money that was described as “climate finance” between 2013 and 2021 was never delivered or disbursed.

This year there will be major challenges - including in making progress on a new long-term goal that’s supposed to replace the $100bn in 2025.

It’s horrendously complex and trust between countries is low - but this is perhaps one area where the UAE could really make progress.

Optimists say they have both the resources and the goodwill to make major progress on money. And if that happens - and the progress on the new fund is a good sign - it might just grease the wheels for a mega deal on fossil fuels.

Mark Poynting
Climate and environment researcher, BBC Verify

Image source, EPA

As we reported earlier, the World Meteorological Organization has said it is "virtually certain" 2023 will be the hottest year on record.

Every month since June has seen the highest monthly global air temperature on records stretching back around 100 years.

However, scientists can capture a detailed picture of the climate much further back in time by examining other records like polar ice cores or deep ocean sediments.

These react to changes in the Earth’s climate in well-established ways.

Based on this evidence, the planet probably hasn’t been this warm for about 125,000 years, external, the UN’s climate body says.

Today, the world is warming because of human emissions of planet-warming greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, mainly through burning fossil fuels.

But 2023’s exceptional surge in temperatures has left some scientists struggling to work out exactly what is going on and what it means for the future.

Likely contributors include an ongoing El Niño weather event in the Pacific Ocean, and a fall in small particles in the atmosphere known as aerosols.

Read more: Is the world warming faster than expected?

Malu Cursino
Live reporter, at COP28

A little earlier I spoke to Bangladeshi American artist and activist Monica Jahan Bose.

Countries like Bangladesh have entire coastal areas at risk from climate change, impacting food crops as well as people's health.

"The health impacts right now in terms of disease, in terms of more asthma, in terms of more viruses, it's really terrible," she says, adding that the impact is worse on women, children and the elderly.

Bose, a former environmental lawyer, says community damage is "astronomical" and goes beyond economics, expanding to the loss of heritage and language.

Through her project, Storytelling with Saris, Bose sheds light on the work of women farmers from Katakhali, Bangladesh.

"I do hope ... there's more emphasis placed in understanding the loss of heritage and culture that's happening," she tells me, adding that "solutions and reparations" are necessary.

Should we have expected more money from the US?published at 13:21 Greenwich Mean Time 30 November 2023

13:21 GMT 30 November 2023

Esme Stallard
Climate reporter, at COP28

Image source, EPA

Countries here at COP28 have just agreed to move forward with a historic fund to help other nations deal with climate disasters - and moments later, pledges of money came thick and fast.

The host country UAE pledged £79m ($100m), the UK £60m ($76m) and the US... well, just £13.8m ($17.5m).

More would have been expected from one of the richest nations on earth.

The US can only give money if Congress agrees, and previously they have proved tricky to persuade, with opinion remaining divided on the facts of climate change.

John Kerry, the US presidential envoy for climate, hinted that his hands were tied, saying: "We are very much committed to work with our Congress."

Kerry also reiterated a previously made point that the fund "does not involve liability or compensation".

What he's stressing is that giving money does not mean richer nations are accepting responsibility for climate change.

Many developing nations do holder richer nations accountable though, as historically they have produced the most greenhouse gas emissions.