2023-07-13 15:28:13
Ministers and negotiators from 30 countries gathered in Brussels to prepare for the crucial COP28 climate talks to be held in the United Arab Emirates in November.
“The phasing out of fossil fuels is an imperative,” Sultan Al Jaber, who heads the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company and hosts the Climate Summit, said on Thursday (July 13).
In a plan released by Al Jaber’s office on the same day, four points were given priority.
This includes fast-tracking the energy transition, cutting emissions before 2030, transitioning to climate finance, particularly for low-income countries, and “putting nature and people at the center of climate action”.
He also said oil companies should “attack” emissions from customers using their products, which in the case of the fossil fuel giants, account for the bulk of carbon emissions.
“We need to challenge the old paradigms that were created in the last century,” Al-Jaber said. “The plan is guided by one North Star, and that keeps 1.5 [degrees Celsius] in hand “.
Commitments to double energy efficiency, triple global renewable energy capacity to 11,000 gigawatts and double hydrogen production to 180m tonnes per year by 2030 will be put to governments, who are expected to reach an agreement in November.
Al-Jaber also said that he wants the world’s largest oil and gas producers to put together a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in line with 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Experts broadly welcomed the plan on Thursday. And[It] It sends the right signal regarding the key elements needed for a successful climate summit. [But] “While the broad outlines are positive, the devil is in the details,” said Harjit Singh of the Climate Action Network.
Al-Jaber’s dual role as head of climate and oil has also drawn criticism, with left-wing European Parliament member Manon Aubry calling it “an absolute scandal”. EU executive vice-president Frans Timmermans, who also attended Thursday’s meeting and is in charge of the green deal, said in the past not to “condemn” the oil chief before the Cop28 conference.
“We need them,” he said of the host country, the UAE. They have a lot of wealth.”
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Deploying the Loss and Damage Fund to help low-income countries deal with the devastating effects of global warming – agreed at last year’s climate summit – is one of the main goals of this year’s work.
Another defining element will be the Global Assessment, the first country-by-country assessment of progress towards reducing emissions to keep global warming below 1.5°C.
This is the first accounting of its kind since the signing of the Paris Climate Agreement in 2015. In a letter published In the Financial Times on Wednesday, a group of countries led by Canada and Germany called on the UAE to focus on phasing out all fossil fuels.
Al Jaber of the United Arab Emirates has emphasized cutting emissions through carbon capture and storage, which will allow oil companies to keep their production high – a method favored by fossil fuel companies but criticized as “too dangerous” by EU countries by former UN climate changers. Major Christiana Figueres.
climate finance
Another stumbling block in the way of ambitious emissions cuts is a lack of financing. Low-income countries, increasingly grappling with a global debt crisis, have pushed for more green financing from rich countries to help pay for clean energy.
But initial talks in Bonn in June ended in disappointment when no progress was made on climate finance.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said at the time: “I see a lack of ambition. trustless. Lack of support. Lack of cooperation. Plenty of problems regarding clarity and credibility.”
Timmermans on Thursday called for a doubling of climate adaptation funding and said the European Union was “firmly committed” to delivering its share of the promised $100 billion. [€90bn] in annual climate finance.
“I think there is enough global capital, but there are barriers to reshaping financing,” he said, adding that reforming financing will be a slow process.
We should not naively expect that the financial system will shift to align global financial flows with Paris [climate] The goals will be achieved in our meeting in Dubai.”
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