The climax of the climate change negotiations has arrived, with pressure from all sides in the most political section of the conference. It is the time when the countries participating in the COP28 talks must stop “posturing”, aim high and agree on a way to end the “fossil fuel era as we know it”. This is what the executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, Simon Stiell, has stated.
“All governments must give their negotiators orders to move forward. We need maximum ambition, not a policy of scoring points on the scoreboard or seeking the lowest common denominator,” Stiell said at a news conference.
Still is thus putting pressure on the negotiators from almost 200 countries at the Dubai summit moments before they hand over their work to the ministers before the imminent negotiation stage in search of a global consensus on what a final agreement at COP28 should look like.
“We have an initial text on the table… but it’s a lot of wish lists and a lot of posturing. The key now is separating the wheat from the chaff,” Stiell said.
With the world very far from meeting its climate goals, Stiell urged delegations to make relevant progress.
“There are many options that are on the table right now that talk about phasing out fossil fuels. It is up to the parties to unpick that and present a very clear statement that signals the terminal decline of the fossil fuel era as we know it.” “, points out
On Tuesday, a first draft of text established three options on fossil fuels, ranging from saying nothing to calling for a complete elimination of their use.
“Let’s be honest, good intentions will not halve emissions in this decade,” said the executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, Simon Stiell, at the COP28 that is being held these days in Dubai and that reaches its equator.
About to end the first week of climate negotiations, Stiell asserted in a meeting with journalists that “we can only overcome the climate crisis by getting rid of the business as usual model.”
Stiell stressed the need to increase levels of “ambition” and “transparency” and called for “serious progress in financing.”
He highlighted, for example, that the objective of doubling the amount of money allocated to developing nations for adaptation and measures to prepare for climate impacts (protection of infrastructure, services…) cannot be forgotten.
“We cannot lose focus on the global objective of adaptation,” said Stiell, who recalled that while millions of people live in areas vulnerable to climate impacts, only 50 countries have national plans for adaptation to climate change.
Regarding mitigation – the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions – the head of UN climate change argued that “we need the summit to result in a high-speed train to accelerate climate action.”
However, “what we currently have is an old caboose moving on rickety rails.”
The official, born on the Caribbean island of Grenada, appreciated that COP28 has a draft Global Balance, the centerpiece of the negotiation at this summit, but regretted that for now it is only “a box of wishes” with a lot of “posturing.” ”.
This preliminary version of the Global Balance, published early Tuesday morning by the COP28 presidency, offers countries multiple ways to design their climate plans in the coming years, including the option of leaving behind all fossil fuels, the main causes of climate change. global warming.
However, the text still leaves many options open, on which countries will have to negotiate over the next few days.
“We need this summit to mark the beginning of the end of fossil fuels,” said the European Commissioner for Climate Action, Wopke Hoekstra.
Together with the Spanish Minister for Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, Hoekstra once again emphasized the position of the European Union in these climate talks, in favor of an agreement that urges the world to get rid of fossil fuels to meet the objective of the Climate Agreement. Paris: that the planet does not warm more than 1.5ºC above pre-industrial levels.
“The EU is here to negotiate an outcome for the Global Balance Sheet that raises the bar. We know what is needed and that we have to move fast; the world must reduce its emissions by 2025 and achieve a 43% reduction by 2030 “Hoekstra alleged.
“The crux of the matter, what we are of course talking about, is the progressive elimination of fossil fuels,” he asserted, later clarifying that the EU defends the use of carbon capture and storage technologies only and exclusively for the most difficult sectors to decarbonize.
For her part, Spanish Minister Teresa Ribera, who spoke on behalf of the EU Council (of which Spain now holds the presidency), underlined the “historical turning point” that, in her opinion, this summit could represent for this decade that It’s “criticism.”
“We have a task in the coming week,” said Ribera, which is to “increase the mitigation ambition” without forgetting adaptation either, making decisions at a multilateral level that guarantee “access to fresh water, food security, adequate response to health challenges or the preservation of biodiversity”.
following days.
