DUBAI, Dec 10 – The president of the COP28 climate summit on Sunday urged negotiators to work harder to find consensus on a proposed first-of-its-kind deal to phase out the world’s use of fossil fuels, as the two-week conference entered its final stages.
The talks in Dubai have highlighted deep international divisions over the future role of oil, gas and coal that are complicating efforts by nearly 200 countries to scrap the agreement before the summit scheduled to end on Dec. 12.
A coalition of more than 80 countries including the United States, the European Union and small island nations is pushing for an agreement at COP28 that includes language to “phase out” fossil fuels, the main source of greenhouse gas emissions that scientists blame for global warming.
They will face stiff opposition led by the oil-producing group OPEC and its allies.
Looking for a breakthrough on Sunday, COP28 President Sultan al-Jaber took the unusual step of holding a ‘majlis’ – the Arabic term for a communal gathering – where delegates can speak in a forum as opposed to the official front-facing plenary chamber.
“We are now at the end of the game,” Jaber said. “I hope you won’t disappoint me.”
Speaking in a circular configuration, the delegation restated their position, but it was not immediately clear that the forum had resulted in a change in position.
OPEC had issued a letter to its members and supporters on December 6 asking them to oppose any language targeting fossil fuels in the COP28 deal, and observers of the talks told Reuters that some delegations appeared to be heeding the call.
Attendees and delegates sit in a common area during the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, December 10, 2023. REUTERS
“I think there are still strong positions,” Adam Guibourgé-Czetwertyński, Poland’s deputy climate minister who heads the country’s COP28 delegation, said ahead of the ceremony on Sunday.
OPEC’s biggest producer and de facto leader Saudi Arabia, along with Russia and others, have argued that the focus of COP28 should be on reducing emissions, not on targeting the fuel sources that cause them.
China’s top climate ambassador, Xie Zhenhua, on Saturday said the COP28 deal could only be considered a success if it included an agreement on fossil fuels – although he did not say whether Beijing would support a “phase-out” deal.
“The position on the issue is currently very antagonistic, and China is trying to find a solution that is acceptable to all parties and can solve the problem,” he said, describing COP28 as the most difficult climate summit in his career.
Climate activists protest during the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP28 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, December 10, 2023. REUTERS
US Special Climate Envoy John Kerry met with Xie at the Chinese delegation’s office for 45 minutes on Sunday. Kerry did not say what the pair discussed.
The draft text published on Sunday suggests next year’s COP29 climate summit be hosted by Azerbaijan between November 11 and November 22. The text has to be adopted by the summit before it becomes official.
SELEW OF COMMITMENT
The latest version of the core negotiating text, released on Friday, shows that countries are still considering a range of options – from agreeing to a “phase-out of fossil fuels in line with the best available science,” to a phased-out “no fossil fuel phase-out.” , not to mention at all.
Reducing fossil fuels usually means reducing their climate impact by either capturing and storing their carbon dioxide emissions. Carbon capture is expensive and has yet to be proven at scale.
Climate activists protest against fossil fuels in Dubai Expo City. Reuters
Three sources told Reuters that the COP28 presidency did not plan to release another draft until Monday, something that would leave negotiators with only a full day to work out differences before the conference ends on Tuesday before noon.
Speaking at the event on Sunday, a representative of the Saudi Arabian delegation reiterated its stance that the COP28 agreement should not pick and choose energy sources, but instead should focus on reducing emissions.
“We’ve been thinking hard about how to send an inclusive signal to the world about what science is telling us, completely without cherry-picking,” the representative said. “We have raised our consistent concerns over attempts to attack energy sources rather than emissions.”
OPEC member Iraq reiterated that stance.
Britain and Australia are among the few countries that have offered some compromise, saying flexibility on fossil fuel language is possible as long as there are adequate safeguards.
A delegation walks at the COP28 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, December 8, 2023. REUTERS
The European Union, meanwhile, reiterated its position that phasing out fossil fuels is an essential component of any agreement to avoid the worst of climate change.
“We are running out of time. And with all due respect to your deadline, the time we are running out is time for our planet,” said Wopke Hoekstra, the EU’s chief negotiator at COP28.
The conference has produced several other commitments from countries to achieve targets such as tripling renewable energy and nuclear power use, reducing coal use and curbing emissions of the powerful greenhouse gas methane.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) on Sunday said this pledge – if honored – would reduce global energy-related greenhouse gas emissions by 4 billion metric tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent by 2030.
United Arab Emirates Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and COP28 President Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber speaks during a press conference at the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP28. Reuters
While that figure is large, it represents only about a third of the emissions gap that needs to be closed in the next six years to limit warming to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels, as agreed in the 2015 Paris Agreement, the IEA said.
“An ‘orderly & fair’ reduction in global fossil fuel use is needed to keep 1.5C within reach,” IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, speaking at the Doha Forum, urged leaders at COP28 to agree on deep reductions in emissions to stop global warming above 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit).
Guterres said despite pledges, emissions are at record highs and fossil fuels are the main cause.
“I urge leaders at COP28 in Dubai to agree to deep emissions reductions, in line with the 1.5 degree limit,” he said.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
