The oil-producing states of the Persian Gulf understand very well that the age of oil is over. They have still watered down the meeting, writes HS foreign editor Ville Similä.
of Dubai the climate meeting is scheduled to end on Tuesday. Negotiations are headed for the wall again.
Sand has been thrown into the tank by the host country, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia, the powerhouse in the region whispering behind its back. According to meeting sources, the Saudi diplomats in particular skilfully sidetracked the negotiations, says the newspaper The New York Times.
At least 118 states support a record in which fossil fuels are given up completely, in the language of the agreement phase out. It was also driven by Finland and the EU.
The oil producing countries of the Persian Gulf strongly opposed this. A gradual reduction of fuels was coming in, phase down. The word oil was not even mentioned in the draft contract.
The Saudis and the Emirates have tried to promote a fantasy where oil could be burned but carbon dioxide captured. The UAE's state-owned oil company Adnoc has invested $15 billion this year alone in carbon capture systems, the hydrogen economy and the like.
However, it is not enough. The world must gradually give up the use of fossil fuels completely, and quickly. There is a solid scientific consensus on the matter.
They understand that very well too the oil countries themselves.
United Arab Emirates Sultan Al Jaber said this during the meeting: “Reducing and stopping fossil fuels is inevitable in my opinion. It is very important. But we have to be practical.”
“Practicality” therefore means that the UAE and Saudi Arabia are watering down the agreement – against their better knowledge.
Oil sector still produces about 70 percent of Saudi Arabia's national product. There are almost no countries in the world that are so dependent on one card.
Saudi Arabia has known for decades that it needs to reduce dependence. The first plans were already created in the 1970s. Since then, plans have been seen, but long-term work has been lacking.
Terrestrial the de facto leader, the crown prince Mohammed bin Salman announced the ambitious Vision 2030 program in 2016.
It was meant to reduce the importance of oil to the Saudi economy. Efforts are being made to get Saudi citizens into productive work, and efforts are being made to get investments into the country. This is also related to the recent “sports laundering”, i.e. attracting big money sports competitions to Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia has something of a paradox. In order to get out of oil dependence, it needs state investments – that is, exactly that oil money.
Vision 2030 has burned billions and billions, but oil dependence has decreased very little.
The New York Times declared the Vision 2030 program dead already in 2020. Businesses generally do not want to invest in a state that cuts its citizens to pieces.
Persian Gulf the oil states are not the only ones who have pushed for binding climate records. China and India have also avoided them.
Home soil would have been the best opportunity for the Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia to show that they are serious about their grandiose declarations.
It was Saudi Arabia that insisted in the 1990s that decisions must be made unanimously at climate conferences. If the oil states avoid their responsibilities, the meetings have to switch to majority decisions.
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