2023-12-13 07:08:02
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A new commitment presented early Wednesday at the COP28 climate negotiations calls for abandoning planet-warming fossil fuels, a stronger call than the one proposed days earlier but with loopholes that They angered critics.
The new proposal does not specifically mention the “phasing out” of fossil fuels, as more than a hundred nations had requested. Instead, it calls for “the transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems in a fair, orderly and equitable manner, accelerating actions in this critical decade.” The change would be carried out so that the planet reaches emissions neutrality in 2050 and follows the dictates of climate science. It calls for the world to peak carbon pollution in 2025 to reach the agreed threshold, but leaves room for specific nations, such as China, to reach that point later.
The intense sessions with all types of delegates continued until the early hours of Wednesday, after the initial document of the presidency of the Conference of the Parties of the United Nations upset many countries by avoiding a strong call for action to stop global warming. The COP presidency, held by the United Arab Emirates, then presented delegates from nearly 200 countries with a new central document — called the global stocktake — shortly before dawn.
It is the third version that has been prepared in about two weeks and the word “petroleum” does not appear in its 21 pages, but “fossil fuels” does so twice.
“We needed a global signal to tackle fossil fuels. “This is the first time in 28 years that countries have been forced to address fossil fuels,” Jean Su, energy justice director at the Center for Biological Diversity, told The Associated Press. “So this is an overall victory. But the actual details are very scarce.”
“The problem with the text is that it continues to include cavernous loopholes that allow the United States and other fossil fuel producers to continue their expansion on fossil fuels,” Su added. “There is a pretty fatal, fatal flaw in the text, allowing transitional fuels to continue,” which is a code word for natural gas, which also emits carbon dioxide.
“The text has many gaps and offers several gifts to those who claim to be environmentalists, with mentions of carbon capture and storage, so-called transition fuels, nuclear energy and carbon markets,” said the global climate chief. from Action Aid, Teresa Anderson. “Taken together, it charts a rocky path toward a fossil-free future.”
For her part, the director of the Global Climate Program at the World Resources Institute, Melanie Robinson, praised the plan, stating that it would “dramatically move the needle in the fight against climate change and overcome the immense pressure from oil and gas interests.” .
The goal of the global stocktake is to help nations align their national climate plans with the 2015 Paris agreement, which calls for limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit). The Earth is on track to break the record for the hottest year, endangering human health and causing increasingly costly and deadly extreme weather events.
Countries had a few hours to examine the document prepared by COP28 President Sultan al-Jaber and his team. They will then hold a meeting that could end with the adoption of the text or a return to negotiations.
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Associated Press writers Lujain Jo, Joshua A. Bickel, Olivia Zhang, Malak Harb, Bassam Hatoum and David Keyton contributed to this report.
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The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage is supported by several private foundations. The AP is solely responsible for the content.
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