Negotiators at UN climate conference must sit in detention
The UN Climate Change Conference is going into extra time. The representatives have to sit together even longer in Dubai, a consensus for the final text has not yet been found. A draft by conference president al-Jaber, who is also the head of an oil company, is causing consternation.
As expected, the World Climate Conference in Dubai has gone into extra time. Conference President Sultan al-Jaber from the United Arab Emirates actually wanted to conclude the meeting of almost 200 states at 11 a.m. local time (8 a.m. CET). But the struggle for a final text continues.
On Monday evening, al-Jaber, who is also the head of the state oil company, presented a draft that the EU, the German government and dozens of other states had classified as disappointing and inadequate. Environmental associations were also largely outraged and called for improvements. What is upsetting is that the draft text no longer mentions the phase-out of coal, oil and gas demanded by more than 100 countries - unlike in previous versions. The UN meeting with around 97,000 participants began on November 30.
Baerbock: "We have time"
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said that an extension was not a problem for the European delegation. "We have time. And we are prepared to stay a little longer," said the Green politician. A number of countries, including oil-rich Saudi Arabia as well as China, Iraq, India and Russia, had recently expressed reservations about a decision to phase out fossil fuels.
US climate envoy John Kerry had previously described the climate conference as the "last" chance to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees. "This is the last COP where we have a chance to keep it at 1.5 degrees." He emphasized: "Many of us have called on the world to largely phase out fossil fuels," said Kerry. This would require a decisive reduction in this decade. "I think most of you are refusing to be part of a farce." Not many people in public life are asked to make decisions that are a matter of "life and death", the former US presidential candidate and later US Secretary of State continued. "This is a war for survival."
Climate activist Luisa Neubauer and fellow campaigners from Fridays for Future Germany also warned in Dubai that the global climate conference could fail. "This is not a 'walk on sunshine' conference. This is a conference where we are fighting for our lives and that makes a big difference," Neubauer shouted at a protest on the conference site on Tuesday. "If you want to make everyone happy, this conference will fail." Fossil fuel industry lobbyists would have to leave the meeting feeling miserable.
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- Despite the objections from oil-rich countries such as Saudi Arabia, China, Iraq, India, and Russia, the European delegation led by Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock remains optimistic about the UN Climate Change Conference, stating, "We have time, and we are prepared to stay a little longer."
- The draft text presented by Conference President Sultan al-Jaber, who also serves as the head of the state oil company, has caused controversy at the World Climate Conference in Dubai, as it no longer includes the phase-out of coal, oil, and gas demanded by over 100 countries.
- The United Nations and its member states are under pressure to take decisive action on renewable energies and climate change, with US climate envoy John Kerry describing the COP as the "last" chance to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees and emphasizing the need for a large-scale phase-out of fossil fuels.
Source: www.ntv.de
