Nearly 200 countries at Dubai summit joined efforts to resolve fossil fuel impasse (File)
Dubai:
Some countries are resisting a pledge to phase out fossil fuels in a COP28 climate deal, stalling efforts at the U.N. climate talks to make a firm commitment for the first time in three decades on ending the use of oil and gas in come into danger.
Observers at the negotiations said Saudi Arabia and Russia are pushing for COP28 to focus solely on reducing climate pollution – without mentioning the fossil fuels that cause it.
Earlier this week, OPEC sent a letter calling on its members and oil-producing allies to reject any mention of fossil fuels in the final summit deal. The letter warned that “inappropriate and disproportionate pressure on fossil fuels could reach a tipping point” in the talks.
In a statement to Reuters, OPEC Secretary General Haitham Al Ghais declined to comment on the letter, but said OPEC wanted to maintain the summit's focus on reducing climate change emissions, and stay away from their main source : coal, oil and gas.
“The world needs major investments in all energy sources, including hydrocarbons,” he said. “Energy transitions must be just, fair and inclusive.”
It was the first time that the OPEC Secretariat intervened in the UN climate talks with such a letter.
“It indicates a hint of panic,” says Alden Meyer of think tank E3G.
Saudi Arabia is a member of OPEC. Russia is a member of the so-called OPEC+ group.
By sticking to a focus on emissions rather than fossil fuels, the two countries appeared to lean on the promise of expensive carbon capture technology, which the UN climate science panel says cannot take the place of cutting fossil fuel use worldwide .
On the other hand, at least 80 countries, including the United States, the European Union and many poor, climate-vulnerable countries, are demanding that a COP28 deal clearly call for an eventual end to the use of fossil fuels.
Other countries, including India and China, did not explicitly agree to phase out fossil fuels at COP28, but did support a popular call to boost renewable energy.
Ireland's former president Mary Robinson, who heads a group of former world leaders known as the Elders, said the letter showed OPEC was “concerned” about the trajectory of the COP28 talks.
“Russia and Saudi Arabia are on the wrong side of this and will likely push hard,” Robinson said. “We really need to make sure that the tipping point goes in the right direction.”
'CRITICAL PHASE'
With the summit ending on Tuesday, ministers from the nearly 200 countries at the Dubai summit have joined in an effort to break the fossil fuel impasse.
Climate-vulnerable countries said rejecting a mention of fossil fuels at COP28 would threaten the entire world.
“Nothing puts the prosperity and future of all people on earth, including all citizens of OPEC countries, at greater risk than fossil fuels,” said Tina Stege, climate envoy to the Marshall Islands, in a statement.
The Marshall Islands, which faces flooding due to climate-driven sea level rise, currently chairs the High Ambition Coalition group of countries pushing for stronger targets and policies to reduce emissions.
To achieve the global goal of keeping climate warming within 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial temperatures, the coalition “urges a phase-out of fossil fuels that are at the root of this crisis,” she said. “1.5 is non-negotiable, and that means an end to fossil fuels.”
The latest version of the negotiating text, released on Friday, shows countries are still considering a range of options – from agreeing on a “phase-out of fossil fuels in accordance with the best available science”, to phasing out “unabated fossil fuels” , to including no mention at all.
German climate envoy Jennifer Morgan said the provinces were “entering the critical phase of negotiations.”
“It is time for all countries to remember what is at stake,” she said. “I'm concerned that not everyone is constructively involved.”
Asked about the OPEC letter, COP28 Director General Majid Al Suwaidi avoided the term “fossil fuels” but said the United Arab Emirates, as chairman of the summit, wanted an agreement to get the world on track to tackle the limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
“Our COP president clearly wants to see the most ambitious outcome possible, and we believe we will achieve that,” he told a news conference.
Samoa's Environment Minister Cedric Schuster, speaking on behalf of the Alliance of Small Island States, raised concerns that this year's talks could be bogged down by disputes.
“We are extremely concerned about the pace of negotiations given the limited time we have left here in Dubai,” he told the summit from the main stage on Saturday.
“A renewable energy target cannot replace a stronger commitment to phasing out fossil fuels and ending fossil fuel subsidies,” he said. “COP28 must deliver on both.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
