Two days before the official conclusion of COP28, the president of the summit warned that it is necessary to reach an agreement, especially on the controversial issue of fossil fuels. “Failure is not an option,” Sultan Al Jaber said on Sunday.
The nearly 200 countries at the talks must “show flexibility, act urgently and find common ground,” Jaber told reporters before meeting with ministers and government officials. “What we are looking for is the public interest. What we seek is the best for everyone, everywhere,” he added.
Jaber spoke to reporters before convening a “majlis,” an Arabic expression describing a traditional meeting where people sit in a circle and try to resolve disagreements.
After a dozen days of meetings and at least two drafts, is it time to enter a meeting “without speeches” and “prepared to listen to each other,” Jaber asked.
“We came here to reach a declaration on eliminating fossil fuels,” Ralph Regenvanu, environment minister of Vanuatu, an archipelago of islands in the Pacific Ocean threatened by rising water levels, told AFP.
“There must be clear language on phasing out fossil fuels, in line with (the target of) +1.5ºC,” German special climate envoy Jennifer Morgan added.
Fossil fuels have been largely responsible for the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere and therefore for the increase in the average global temperature, which is about to rise by 1.5 ºC compared to pre-industrial times.
This limit was (ideally) set as a maximum target at the historic Paris Climate Change Conference in 2015.
Eight years later, it’s time to take stock and the Dubai COP aims to tighten targets, expand the spread of renewables and provide adequate financing.
“It is clear that the least developed countries will not be able to progress at the same pace as the major economies of the G20,” the German official acknowledged on Sunday.
The most difficult bloc to convince, according to environmental organizations and some countries, is led by Saudi Arabia. But many countries agree with this view, starting with India, which still produces three-quarters of its electricity from coal.
Countries that are willing to take the step to decarbonize their economies want money to install wind farms or solar panels.
Source: DN
