DUBAI:
Negotiations over the future of fossil fuels intensified at UN climate talks on Saturday, with OPEC fending off the oil cartel’s bid to block any phase-out in the final deal.
The tone has shifted between optimism and concern over the pace of the COP28 talks in Dubai, as negotiators held marathon meetings aimed at finding a compromise on the fate of oil, gas and coal.
OPEC added fuel to the fire after it was revealed that Kuwaiti Secretary-General Haitham Al Ghais sent a letter to the group’s 13 members and 10 allies this week, calling on them to “preemptively reject” any language that “targets” the mineral fuel instead of emissions.
“I think it’s very, very disgusting that OPEC countries are pushing not to get the ball rolling,” Spain’s Transitional Ecology Minister Teresa Ribera, whose country holds the EU’s rotating presidency, told reporters.
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French Energy Minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher said OPEC’s statement left her “surprised” and “angry”.
Dramatically scaling up the use of renewable energy sources while reducing the production and consumption of fossil fuels is crucial to achieving the global goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
“1.5 is not negotiable and that means an end to fossil fuels,” said Tina Stege, climate envoy for the Marshall Islands, who chairs the High Aspiration Coalition, a broad group of nations that stretches from Barbados to France, Kenya and the Pacific Island States. .
About seven activists demonstrated in front of the OPEC pavilion at the COP28 venue, with their palms raised to show words such as “phase out”, according to a video shared by NGO 350.org.
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A third draft deal released Friday offers several ways to phase out fossil fuels, but also includes the option not to mention them at all in the final text.
Saudi Arabia has so far been the most vocal country against phasing out or phasing out fossil fuels.
In the OPEC letter sent on Wednesday, Guice said “it appears that the unwarranted and disproportionate pressure against fossil fuels may be reaching a tipping point with irreversible consequences.”
Assem Jihad, a spokesman for Iraq’s oil ministry, told AFP his country supported the OPEC letter.
Iraqi Oil Minister Hayan Abdel Ghani “rejected efforts to target fossil fuels,” Jihad said.
He added that Ghani tasked Iraq’s COP28 delegation to “ensure that the wording of the final declaration emphasizes global cooperation to reduce emissions to preserve the environment and climate.”
However, another OPEC member, COP28 hosted by the United Arab Emirates, took a conciliatory tone throughout the negotiations and acknowledged that a gradual collapse was “inevitable”.
Pannier-Runacher said she “calculates that the COP presidency will not be affected” by the OPEC letter.
A negotiator from a country that favors exiting fossil fuels said the Arab group of nations was the only one to take a strong position against phasing out.
Canada’s climate minister, Steven Guilbaut, told AFP she was “confident” the final text would contain language on fossil fuels.
Guilbeau is among a group of ministers tasked by COP28 president Sultan Al-Jaber to advance negotiations and reach an agreement by Tuesday, when the summit is due to conclude.
“It’s a discussion that will take a few more days,” Guilbeau said.
“Different groups are talking and trying to figure out what we could agree on, but it’s still a pretty embryonic discussion,” he added.
German climate envoy Jennifer Morgan said countries were “now entering the critical stage of negotiations” but was “concerned that not all are engaging constructively”.
Ministers delivered a series of speeches in the COP28 plenary hall.
“We are extremely concerned about the pace of negotiations given the limited time we have left here in Dubai,” said Toeolesulusulu Cedric Schuster, president of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS).
AOSIS pushed hard for a phase-out, warning that rising seas threaten their existence.
“I’m begging you, let this COP28 be the summit where leaders remember us for turning around,” Schuster said, adding that boosting renewables “cannot be a substitute for a stronger commitment to phasing out fossil fuels.” .
Next year’s climate talks are likely to be held in another major fossil fuel producer as Azerbaijan announced it had secured consensus to host COP29.
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