COP President al-Jaber commits to science-based work
With his commitment to science, al-Jaber was apparently responding to accusations relating to statements attributed to him in the run-up to the conference. The British newspaper"Guardian" had quoted the COP President as saying: "No scientific study, no scenario says that we can achieve 1.5 degrees by phasing out fossil fuels." At an event on November 21, al-Jaber is also reported to have said that phasing out fossil fuels could send the world "back to the Stone Age".
This caused a storm of indignation. The Emirati COP presidency said that the quotes had been taken out of context. Al-Jaber also said that he works closely with "my friend Jim", the chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Jim Skea, and that his work is strictly fact-based. According to the findings of the IPCC, the leading scientific body on climate protection, the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees is not achievable without moving away from fossil fuels.
Commenting on the conference so far, al-Jaber said that much had already been achieved. He referred to the successful launch of the new fund for climate-related damage, declarations on health and the expansion of renewable energies. Here, the COP presidency committed to the goal of tripling the expansion of renewables by 2030 and doubling progress in energy efficiency.
It must be possible to "keep the 1.5 degree target within reach", said al-Jaber. To achieve this, it is necessary to reduce greenhouse gas emissions worldwide by 43 percent by 2030. The COP President also referred to the "Global Decarbonization Alliance", which he supports and in which a number of countries and major oil companies have committed to significantly reducing emissions from the extraction and production of fossil fuels.
However, Al-Jaber once again did not address the demands for a phase-out of coal, oil and gas. Despite his commitment to the goals of the Paris Climate Change Agreement, the conference president is met with skepticism by some because he is also the industry minister of the oil and gas-rich United Arab Emirates and head of the country's state oil company Adnoc.
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Source: www.stern.de
