"Fighting for our survival" - COP28 is extended

Climate conference - "Fighting for our survival" - COP28 to be extended

The World Climate Conference has gone into extra time after a storm of protest against a draft of the final text. An improved version is now intended to accommodate the many critics, as the Director-General of the UN meeting, Madschid Al-Suwaidi, said. What is upsetting is the fact that the draft no longer mentions the phase-out of coal, oil and gas demanded by more than 100 countries in Dubai - unlike in previous versions. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock called this unacceptable. Environmental associations expressed their dismay and warned of failure.

The German government now wants to work with the EU and dozens of other countries to ensure that the text is formulated more ambitiously. A number of countries, including oil-rich Saudi Arabia as well as China, Iraq, India and Russia, have recently expressed concerns about a decision to phase out fossil fuels.

Baerbock wrote on Instagram that there was a strong alliance across continents in favor of phasing out fossil fuels at the meeting of almost 200 countries. Examples include Norway and Colombia, but also island states such as Palau, the Marshall Islands and Fiji. They are acutely threatened by rising sea levels.

The Green politician was also responding to comments questioning the purpose of the major climate conferences, which have been held annually since 1995. There are people "who are negotiating for their literal survival ", she emphasized.

The meeting with tens of thousands of participants had begun on November 30 and was scheduled to end at 11.00 a.m. according to the plans of conference president Sultan al-Jaber from the United Arab Emirates.

Criticism of the draft final text

Al-Jaber is also the head of the state oil company - which intensified the criticism of his draft text. Former US Vice President Al Gore wrote on X that the "obsequious draft" read as if it had been dictated word for word by the oil cartel Opec.

Climate activist Luisa Neubauer and fellow campaigners from Fridays for Future Germany also warned of failure during a protest action. "This is a conference where we are fighting for our lives," shouted Neubauer. "End the fossil fuel era," chanted the activists, some of whom had traveled from Germany.

At the planned conclusion of the conference, Oxfam drew attention to the current, fatal consequences of the climate crisis. Six months after the historic droughts in East Africa, massive flooding had inundated large areas of arable land in Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia and destroyed harvests. More than four million people are now in urgent need of humanitarian aid.

Al-Suwaidi: Text should stimulate talks

Many other activists and groups of states also want to exert pressure on the conference leadership in the final spurt. Director-General Al-Suwaidi said that the criticism was expected. "In fact, we wanted the text to stimulate talks - and that is exactly what happened." Feedback was collected overnight and into the early morning. Now, "if possible", they also want to include wording on fossil fuels in the text. "That would be historic." However, the responsibility ultimately lies with the government delegations, who must achieve unanimity.

The environmental organization WWF demanded that not only the phase-out of coal, oil and gas be clearly stipulated, but also the end of subsidies for fossil fuels. The goal of reducing emissions of the particularly aggressive greenhouse gas methane by 30 percent by 2030 should also be enshrined - as dozens of countries have already voluntarily pledged to do.

Foreign Minister Baerbock said that the European delegation would not have a problem with the expected extension. "We have time. And we are prepared to stay a little longer."

Vanessa Nakate, Ugandan activist for climate justice, said that the text needed to be reworked: "We have to fight for humanity and for our survival." In the final hours of COP28, it is important to dismantle the power of the oil and gas industry over the COP process.

The political director of Germanwatch, Christoph Bals, said that there was still a good chance of a political turnaround and a move away from the fossil fuel industry - but only if the COP presidency wanted this. "And that is clearly in doubt after the actions of the last day."

A new draft text was expected in the course of the evening.