COP28: Climate summit kicks into high gear

DUBAI (UAE): COP28 is approaching the end of the first week and the kings, presidents and prime ministers have flown off.

Now, hundreds of seasoned climate diplomats must get down to the tough job of negotiating a text that everyone can agree on.

Mr Adnan Amin, who as chief executive of COP28 is Dr Sultan Al Jaber’s number two, said in an interview there are several areas that are likely to test negotiators over the rest of the summit.

The tussle over whether the final agreement should commit to a “phase-down” or “phase-out” of fossil fuels is prominent as always, and different formulations are currently being shopped.

Rich nations were supposed to provide $100 billion a year in climate finance for emerging economies starting in 2020, a milestone they appear to have finally reached two years late.

The debate in 2023 will lay the groundwork for a key decision due at COP29 on a new target for financing.

“So the developing world will want to see some commitments in the agreement on finance.”

But some Western countries are not keen to offer more without commitments from developing nations to move away from dirty fuels.

More than 120 countries are on board with a pledge to triple renewables deployment globally by 2030, though some of the biggest polluters, including China and India, have not agreed because they want softer language on fossil fuels.

A draft negotiating text released early on Dec 5 would call upon parties to take further action “tripling renewable energy capacity globally” and “doubling the global average annual rate of energy-efficiency improvements” by the end of the decade – both compared with a 2022 baseline.

Countries at the COP28 climate talks need to stop posturing, aim high and agree on a way to end the “fossil fuel era as we know it”, UN climate chief Simon Stiell said on Wednesday, as tension over the future of coal, oil and gas came to the fore.

Stiell was speaking as the two-week conference approaches its midpoint, after the opening flurry of announcements and pledges has died down and attention turns to behind-the-scenes negotiations.

“All governments must give their negotiators clear marching orders. We need highest ambition, not point-scoring or lowest common denominator politics,” Stiell told a news conference.

Underscoring the urgency of the climate crisis, European Union scientists said November had wrapped up the world’s warmest autumn ever recorded.

Negotiators are expected to hand over their work to their countries’ ministers for negotiating a global consensus on what a final COP28 deal should look like. “We have a starting text on the table … but it’s a grab bag of wish lists and heavy on posturing. The key now is to sort the wheat from the chaff,” Stiell said. – Agencies / Web Desk