Biden to skip annual UN climate summit in Dubai attended by 200 world leaders as he tries to turn around sagging poll numbers at home

When world leaders meet in Dubai this week to discuss climate change, President Joe Biden will not be among them, even though he has put green policies at the heart of his administration.

The United Nations ‘Conference of the Parties’ on climate, better known as COP28, starts on Thursday.

But according to a public schedule from the White House, the US president should light the national Christmas tree in Washington instead of flying to the Middle East.

Biden has attended the last two summits, but officials said he was unlikely to hold them even though King Charles III and Pope Francis will join leaders from nearly 200 countries.

On Sunday, he will join Bee Gee Barry Gibb and rapper Queen Latifah at a reception for Kennedy Center Honorees.

More than 200 world leaders are expected to gather in Dubai for the climate summit. Biden attended both previous years after becoming president in January 2021

His climate envoy John Kerry will be there.

“They’ve got the war in the Middle East and a war in Ukraine, there’s all kinds of things going on,” Kerry previously told reporters when asked about the president’s plans.

Biden’s absence was first revealed by a White House official in the New York Times on Sunday.

“While we do not have any travel updates to share with the President at this time, the Administration looks forward to a robust and productive COP28 that will include Special Envoy John Kerry, National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi and Senior Advisor John Podesta, who will continue to build on the historic government actions to tackle the climate crisis,” a spokesperson said.

It suggests there are no plans for foreign visits before the end of the year – including an expected trip to Africa – although officials all used some form of language that does not completely rule out the possibility of an 11-hour trip to Dubai.

And then there’s the small matter of next year’s election, after a series of polls showed Biden on track to lose to former President Donald Trump.

The last national one last week NBC News Polls showed Biden’s approval rating had fallen to the lowest level of his presidency as the majority of all voters disapproved of his handling of foreign policy and the war between Israel and Hamas.

It also reports that voters would rather have another Republican in the Oval Office than Biden. An unnamed candidate would now beat him by 48 to 37 percent in a hypothetical contest.

Pope Francis and King Charles III are among the world leaders expected to attend COP28

Bee Gee Barry Gibb will be among the guests on Sunday when the Bidens host a White House reception for the Kennedy Center honorees

a Messenger/Harris Survey showed that Trump, the clear frontrunner for the G.O.P nomination, would beat him by seven points: 47 percent to 40 percent.

His campaign insists the numbers tell only part of the story, pointing out that only one poll matters: the election on November 5 next year.

Yet White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre appeared to concede last week that there was a sense of crisis behind the scenes.

She was asked during her regular daily briefing about polls showing voters thought Biden was too old and that his approval ratings had hit record lows.

“What I want to say to you is that, you know, we’re not going to change the minds of Americans. I understand that,” she said.

“Americans are going to feel how they feel, and we’re going to respect that.”