As per the official schedule issued by the White House on Sunday, US President Joe Biden is not scheduled to attend the opening of the UN Climate Change Conference in Dubai later this week.

Pope Francis and other international leaders will be present for the annual global climate meeting, which Biden is not attending. The White House has not yet provided an official explanation for Biden’s absence.

Senior White House sources reportedly told The New York Times that Biden was very preoccupied with the Gaza battle, pressing for a longer ceasefire and the release of Hamas detainees.

John Kerry, the US climate ambassador and the Biden administration’s main person for international talks to address the issue, is anticipated to be on site in Dubai.The United Nations “Conference of the Parties” on climate change, or COP28, is taking place in the United Arab Emirates from Thursday and will last for two weeks. Around 200 countries are represented there.

Biden traveled to Egypt and Scotland for the last two summits. In an earlier statement this month, he called the climate problem the “ultimate threat to humanity.”

A new goal for the growth of renewable energies is part of the COP28 agenda. A formal evaluation of whether the globe is on course to contain the crisis as well as a financial pool for losses and damages are also on the agenda.