Dispute over phasing out fossil fuels: World Climate Conference in Dubai goes into extra time
COP28 President Sultan al-Jaber had announced at the start of the conference that the negotiations would be concluded "by 11.00 a.m. on Tuesday at the latest" (local time, 08.00 CET). Negotiations continued throughout the night and on Tuesday in a tense atmosphere. Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) had stated in the evening that the EU delegation was "prepared to stay a little longer".
The COP presidency emphasized that the conference decision had to be reached by consensus. It is now a matter of pouring the various points of view into a resolution text "in such a way that everyone can be satisfied with it", explained COP28 Director-General Madschid al-Suwaidi. The draft presented on Monday had enabled "honest, practical, pragmatic discussions" on the respective "red lines" of the negotiating delegations.
Germany and the EU, among others, had rejected the draft resolution as a "disappointment" - in particular because it no longer contains a joint commitment to a global phase-out of all fossil fuels, but only vague formulations about a reduction in oil and gas use by the middle of the century. Oil states such as Saudi Arabia are firmly opposed to an exit resolution.
The 21-page document only contains a "reduction in both the use and production of fossil fuels". This should be done in a "fair, orderly" way in order to achieve greenhouse gas neutrality "by, before or around 2050", it says. He was "surprised at the lack of ambition", commented one Western negotiator on the draft.
German climate envoy Jennifer Morgan emphasized the "determination" of Germany, the EU and "the vast majority of countries" to achieve more ambitious climate protection resolutions. EU Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra spoke of a "super majority". Canadian Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault compared the draft resolution to date with a "menu" from which each country could choose what it liked.
US climate envoy John Kerry, whose country itself is one of the largest oil producers, also called for a global energy transition. "This is a war for survival," he said at a late-night meeting behind closed doors. Speaking on behalf of the African bloc of states, Zambia said that Africa supported phasing out fossil fuels, but that the oil-producing African countries needed financial support in return.
To demand more ambitious resolutions, NGOs organized protest actions on the conference grounds on Tuesday. The Political Director of the environment and development organization Germanwatch, Christoph Bals, sharply criticized COP President al-Jaber. He said that the "technically unprofessional" draft resolution presented did not reflect the broad majority in favor of a global phase-out of all fossil fuels.
According to Bals, one possible reason is that the presidency presented a resolution text with very weak wording for tactical reasons, so that the advocates of a fossil fuel phase-out and its staunch opponents would ultimately meet in the middle. However, it is also possible that "in the short term, such strong pressure was exerted by Saudi Arabia in particular that the Presidency did not dare to present its original plan".
The head of Germanwatch also sharply criticized Arab oil states, especially Saudi Arabia. In order to prevent ambitious resolutions on climate protection, they had "taken the negotiations hostage" in another important area, namely adaptation to global warming, which is particularly important for developing countries.
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Source: www.stern.de
