Expo 2020 Dubai opened its doors this Friday to continue negotiations after a day of rest and reflection. At ten in the morning local time, the delegations took their positions in the main plenary session of COP28 and with coffee still in hand they received the first warning. “We have five days to achieve a paradigm shift,” encouraged Sultan al-Jaber, president of the climate summit being held in the Emirati city state. “Please, let’s do this work,” he implored before the plenary.
With the technical work finished, the ministers of the parties sit at the table to try to reach an agreement, at least a minimum. “I would like to hold the closing of COP28 on the 12th before eleven in the morning (local time, three less in Spain),” said Al-Yáber. A historic fact, since few climate summits have ended earlier than initially planned in the official agenda. “I ask you to be flexible and get out of your comfort zone,” he urged the ministers.
Late on Friday afternoon in Dubai, the climate emissaries of each of the parties received the second draft of the Global Stocktake, that is, the roadmap to keep global warming within the limits set in the Paris Agreement. “Every word is key,” said José Luis García, spokesperson for Greenpeace Spain. “There is a fierce battle over language and it will have profound political implications,” said Chiara Martinelli, European director of the Climate Action Network.
The fight is between the terms “phase out” versus “phase out” and the use of “decrease.” The new draft released this Friday presents five options for negotiation. The most ambitious calls for eliminating all fuels “according to science”, the second mentions 1.5 degrees and the Paris principles, and in the rest of the options the language is lowered until calling for an end “predominantly” in 2050. or achieving net zero and, finally, not mentioning fossil fuels in the Global Balance Sheet. “This new text has important elements to achieve a fair and complete elimination of fossil fuels, but it lacks coherence and also contains ingredients that could make the final result an absolute failure,” warned Kaisa Kosonen, head of the delegation of Greenpeace at COP28.
Despite growing support for this position, positions against it have not softened. Saudi Arabia’s energy minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, once again rejected the text, a dissenting voice that Iraq has also joined with the new draft. This Asian country opposes calling for the end of fossil fuels.
At the moment neither Washington nor Beijing have commented on the Global Balance proposals. “The most polluting countries, such as the United States and China, have to commit to pressing to reach an agreement that addresses the abandonment of fossil fuels,” highlighted Pedro Zorrilla, head of the Climate and Energy campaign at Greenpeace Spain. .
On the opposite side is the European Union, which this Friday at a press conference with Wopke Hoekstra, European Commissioner for Climate Action as spokesperson, once again emphasized that Brussels’ negotiating position is the end of fossil fuels. To bring positions closer together, Al-Jaber has appointed several ministers to learn about the different positions and “to have the versions tonight,” he said.
“We have already made history,” recalled President Al-Jaber after highlighting, once again, the milestone of approving the loss and damage fund on the first day of the summit. “We have surprised the skeptics and encouraged the most believers,” he added.
Greta’s heirs
This Friday in Dubai, COP28 gave a voice to the youngest people. Some cries that were heard in the plenary session while President Al-Yáber reviewed the points on the agenda to be negotiated. Words that were left at the doors stopped by the security of the event that did not allow them to enter the venue where the majority of the 200 parties were located. The new faces of the young climate activists have arrived at this pavilion, replacing Greta Thumberg, who has not traveled to the climate summit again.
Now the most recognized voices are those of the Ugandan Vanessa Natake or the German activist Luisa Neubauer. “All the flashy announcements about new commitments and investments in losses and damages mean nothing if countries continue to develop fossil fuels,” Natake warned.
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