DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Pressure to phase out fossil fuels increased Thursday on the oil company chief who took over fragile international climate negotiations that began in Dubai amid concerns about what some say are conflicting dual roles are.
The newly installed climate chief started on the right track, and not just because the planet continues to break heat records this year. Days before the United Nations Conference of Parties (COP28) began, reports published meeting preparation notes linking efforts by the United Arab Emirates’ national oil company, ADNOC, to boost fossil fuel sales to its CEO and new COP president, Sultan al-Jaber. , came together to curb climate change. Burning coal, oil and gas is one of the main causes of global warming.
Although Al-Jaber vehemently denied the revelations by the BBC and others, several experts on climate negotiations say this is likely to change the tenor and perhaps even the outcome of the two weeks of intensive negotiations, taking place about 100 kilometers away. five offshore oil fields flow.
“I think the pressure on the COP president to deliver results is quite clear and has been clear for months,” German climate envoy Jennifer Morgan told The Associated Press. “That is the focus here to really bring about a course correction.”
Climate negotiations historian Joanna Depledge said: “Whether true or not, the revelations are embarrassing, but I don’t think they endanger the COP. On the contrary, the hope is that pressure on the UAE will increase.”
And that could mean the UAE will contribute more money to a newly created compensation fund for climate change victims and perhaps even adopt tougher language on fossil fuel use, Depledge said.
In an apparent effort to get off to a strong start, negotiators during the first session discussed another hot topic – money to help poor countries victimized by floods, storms and droughts. Leading the opening meeting, al-Jaber and the United Nations body approved the introduction of a compensation fund for countries affected by climate change, with hosts the United Arab Emirates and Germany each pledging $100 million to the new fund, with Major Britain donated up to $75 million. and the United States another $17.5 million.
“Understandably, the COP hosts and other fossil fuel countries started to feel the pressure on this issue,” said Mohamed Adow of Power Shift Africa. “After all, fossil fuels are the elephant in the room and these countries can be too.” Don’t keep trying to pretend they aren’t a problem. This extra control is certainly welcome.”
Al-Jaber’s two positions were already a source of distrust. The reporting brings even more attention to the role of coal, oil and gas in climate change at climate talks and highlights efforts to eliminate the use of fossil fuels, said Ani Dasgupta, president of the World Resources Institute.
“On the one hand, the revelations undermine confidence in the COP president and that will make closing a deal more difficult,” said former US State Department climate lawyer Nigel Purvis, CEO of Climate Advisers. “On the other hand, the UAE now has even more reason to push for a fossil fuel phase-out deal to show the world it is serious about becoming the first post-petroleum OPEC country.”
Morgan said Germany and Europe were steadfast in their support for a phase-out of fossil fuels and on Wednesday US climate envoy John Kerry said the United States remained in favor of a phase-out.
A spokesperson for the COP Presidency said: “Any pressure felt by the COP Presidency stems from the urgency to take ambitious action to correct course and reach 1.5 degrees Celsius (the international climate threshold adopted in 2015) within reach.”
Bill Hare, CEO of Climate Analytics, said the UAE has pushed for a less stringent “phase-out” rather than a more stringent “phase-out” of fossil fuels. He called the phase-out phrase “window dressing” for more oil and gas drilling.
Recent reporting “absolutely reinforces everyone’s concerns about greenwashing,” Hare said Thursday. “And that means that the COP president must step away from his oil interests and look at the interests of the planet as a whole.”
Hare, like Dasgupta, Purvis, Depledge and others, said the reporting will ultimately mean Al-Jaber and oil interests will have to make a stronger deal to divest from fossil fuels.
United Nations climate chief Simon Stiell told negotiators he was tired of the “baby steps” taken so far in the fight against climate change, and challenged them to do much more and faster.
“If we fail to signal the terminal decline of the fossil fuel age as we know it, we are welcoming our own terminal decline,” Stiell said. “And we choose to pay with human lives.”
Minutes after taking the gavel on the first day of climate negotiations, Al-Jaber referred to the need for change in the way the world gets its energy.
“I know there are strong opinions about the idea of including language in fossil fuels,” al-Jaber said. “I ask all of you to work together. To be flexible. Find common ground. Come up with solutions and reach consensus.”
Yet he also spoke of the “brave choice” to involve oil companies more in climate talks and the industry’s push for net-zero emissions by 2050.
WRI’s Dasgupta said there is added pressure right now as global multilateralism – when countries work together on issues – is under attack, especially because of the recent wars in Ukraine and Gaza and the way the COVID-19 vaccine was distributed. Add to that the record heat this year, he said.
“We have already seen the catastrophic heat waves, floods and other events that have occurred around the world this year at 1.2 degrees of warming,” said Climate Analytics Hare. “We are confronted with epic wreckage here. If we don’t get this problem under control.”
Al-Jaber said he hopes negotiators can turn things around in the next two weeks.
“Let us restore confidence in multilateralism,” al-Jaber said. “Let’s bring good news to the world that really needs it today.”
___
Read more about AP’s climate coverage at http://www.apnews.com/climate-and-environment.
___
Follow Seth Borenstein on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @borenbears
___
The Associated Press’ climate and environmental reporting receives support from several private foundations. View more about AP’s climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.