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Petrostates, led by Saudi Arabia, pushed back against attempts to take a hard line on phasing out fossil fuels, while the West — including the US — appeared to be uneasy with acknowledging that it needs to take more responsibility for their historical role in the climate crisis, negotiators and observers at the COP28 climate conference said.
Tensions during negotiations rose during the climate talks on Saturday as countries dug in on their positions, with the latest spark being fresh opposition by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) against any language targeting fossil fuels in the climate agreement being negotiated.
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Saudi Arabia, on behalf of Arab countries, said there was no universal solution to climate change that applies to all countries. “We need context-specific approach. Countries will adapt specific technologies based on their circumstances and its critical to have both renewables and removals to be promoted,” Saudi Arabia’s negotiator said during a high-level ministerial meeting on the issue of pre-2030 ambitions.
On Friday, during a plenary, its representatives said: “We’d like to stress that the Paris Agreement focuses on limiting emissions and doesn’t tackle the sources of these emissions. Adaptation, however, is still something that we need to make more progress on. And we have to stand together and to reach roadmap on the global goal for adaptation.”
China, India and other developing nations — which rely on fossil fuels that are cheaper — too were not happy with the language but were engaged in conversations on how a balance could be found, people aware of the discussions said.
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Countries doubling down on their imperatives was not entirely unexpected. “Saudi Arabia has been open about their views. It’s a multilateral process and every country can raise their concerns. Some developed countries and emerging countries not openly speaking or rejecting the language does not mean that they are agreeable to language on phasing out fossil fuels,” said a negotiator from a developing country, pointing out that many developed nations too have oil and gas expansion projects in the pipeline.
At the heart of the matter is the push by blocs like the European Union and the US on wanting tougher commitments by all to cut back on the use of more polluting fossil fuels, such as coal and oil. This goes not just against the economic imperatives of petrostates, but also against that of developing nations, who have pressed western nations to do good on their prior commitments to offer more funding to help them transition to cleaner sources of energy.
The condition petrostates seem to be stressing on is that commitments must first be hardened on emission targets — western and developed countries at present have the highest per capita emissions — before sources of emissions are tackled.
Also Read: Talks on fossil fuels ramp up at COP28
News sources, including The Guardian that first reported it, brought to light a letter by the leader of Opec urging member countries earlier this week to block any language that would phase out or phase down fossil fuels.
“It seems that the undue and disproportionate pressure against fossil fuels may reach a tipping point with irreversible consequences, as the draft decision still contains options on fossil fuels phase out,” said a copy of the Opec letter that is circulating among observers states.
COP28 director-general, ambassador Majid Al Suwaidi, did not comment on the veracity of the letter but said, “We will align with an outcome to keep 1.5 degree goal in reach. That goal is our north star.”
On the stance taken by India, China and developing countries, a negotiator said: “They say OK this is strong package on mitigation, but what is the balance we are going to see? The next iteration will be possibly developed keeping that in mind. Now ministerial pairings are meeting parties trying to understand and listen to not only their problems but are also asking for their suggestions. Tonight, we will have stocktaking plenary, where ministerial pairings are going to come in and explain what is going on”.
HT reported on Saturday that COP28 President Sultan Al Jaber announced minister pairings — Dan Jørgensen of Denmark and Barbara Creecy of South Africa were assigned to lead the talks on global stocktake (GST); Yasmine Fouad of Egypt and Steven Guilbeault of Canada on finance; Espen Barth Eide of Norway and Grace Fu of Singapore on mitigation and Maisa Rojas of Chile and Jenny McAllister of Australia leading the talks on adaptation.
The ongoing summit is expected to agree upon the first global stocktake, an assessment of the world’s progress on climate-related goals and commitments. It involves evaluating collective efforts, reviewing individual contributions, and identifying areas for improvement.
Consultations went on overnight on Friday after the third draft of the stocktake was released. Contentions remained, and even intensified, on the language of certain critical issues especially fossil fuels and equity, observers said. US in particular was not agreeable to the language on common but differentiated responsibilities, one observers added, referring to the agreed upon climate action paradigm that historical emitters must do more to make up for their role in the climate crisis.
Bolivia, on behalf of the Like Minded Developing Countries (LMDC) which includes India, flagged that developed countries had not walked the talk on fossil fuel themselves and had not even delivered climate finance.
“Let’s talk about emissions, rather than diverting the discussion to sources. We are trying for alternatives, some of our countries have the biggest renewable energy expansion plans, however, the finance and technology needed to make advances are curtailed. These are real challenges, this is not rhetoric,” Diego Pacheco, Bolivia’s negotiator said during a high-level ministerial on the pre-2030 ambition on Saturday.
“We also need to walk the talk. Reports indicate that despite having the greatest economic means to rapidly phase out production, and immense historical responsibility for causing the climate crisis, rich, developed countries account for over a half of planned expansion from new oil and gas fields through 2050. How is this fair? How is this equitable? This sends a very concerning message that the lives of people in developing countries are not valued,” he added.
“It is a fact that the means of implementation support from developed countries to developing countries has not been forthcoming. It is also a fact that developed countries who can be a lot more ambitious are not showing that ambition in their NDCs (nationally determined contributions). But each year, there is pressure on developing countries to do more. How much more is expected of us? We need to correct this injustice. It is important to keep 1.5 alive, but how is this possible if developed countries have net zero targets in 2050? They are asking for the right to pollute, while we are asking for our legitimate right to develop,” Pacheco said.
EU and US called for stronger language on fossil fuels and coal. “If we want next generations to have a safe future, 1.5 degrees should be priority. The options put forward by the UAE presidency have laid down what needs to be done. We need reductions in global greenhouse gas emissions of 43% by 2030…I have said it earlier and I am saying it again that we want this COP28 to mark the beginning of end of fossil fuels,” said EU Climate Action Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra during his national statement.
“We are aware of the fact that 500 GW of new coal power plants are in the pipeline to be built. Its past the time to build new coal power plants and we need to address what is happening with non-CO2 emissions …” said Rick Duke, US deputy special envoy for climate during a press conference on Saturday.
These conflicts are captured in the third iteration of the GST also. “The third iteration of the Global Stocktake text shows no change in the language on phasing out coal while the language on phasing out fossil fuels is vague with no specific timeline. It is not acceptable to single out coal in this manner which would absolve heavy oil and gas producers, like the US, of accountability,” said Tamanna Sengupta, programme officer, climate change at Centre for Science and Environment who is at COP28 as an observer.
COP28: Oil producers resist fossil fuel phase-out pledge – Hindustan Times
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