Live. COP28: Cities and transport take the spotlight on day 7 of the UN climate conference

Welcome to our coverage of COP28 from Dubai. Stay tuned for the latest updates from the UN climate conference.

It was already virtually certain, but Copernicus, Europe’s Climate Change Service, has now declared that 2023 will be the hottest year in recorded history.

November was the sixth consecutive month to break records: with an average daily temperature of 14.22 degrees Celsius, exceeding 2020's record by 0.32 degrees.

“There have been new records for six months in a row and two seasons. This extraordinary November means that 2023 will be the hottest year since records began," says Samantha Burgess, the deputy director of the service.

Here’s more on this story: Copernicus: 2023 officially hottest year in recorded history

Good morning from COP28 in Dubai! 

The conference is approaching a mid-point, with negotiators soon to hand over to ministers to thrash out the final details of key texts on the global stocktake, fossil fuels and more. 

Around this negotiating core, today’s focus turns to transport, urbanisation and the built environment - colossal sectors that need to decarbonise urgently.

It comes as the Global Tipping Points report is released, showing that five vital thresholds already risk being crossed. The collapse of vast ice sheets in Greenland and the West Antarctic and the death of coral reefs in warm waters are two such shifts that could trigger “devastating domino effects,” according to report lead Tim Lenton from the UK's University of Exeter.

At various events today, city and transport leaders will be discussing what they can do to reduce the carbon pollution that is fuelling the climate crisis. There’s also a four-hour long 'global sustainable aviation forum' - though it’s less clear what that will achieve.

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