The absence of Joe Biden, the President of the United States, from COP28 has puzzled many climate activists and analysts, as the Democrat entered the White House in 2021 with a clear speech supporting the fight against climate change. This, along with new licenses to extract more oil on its territory, has led to questioning that country’s commitment to its green agenda. Kamala Harris, Vice President of the United States, attended the climate summit in Dubai to clear any doubts about her government. And from this city in the United Arab Emirates, he has announced a significant contribution to the United Nations Green Fund: $3 billion.
This fund is an instrument in the context of the negotiations to combat climate change that have been taking place under the auspices of the United Nations for three decades. Its donors are the richest countries and the recipients are developing countries. The aim is for these countries to be able to reduce their emissions – for example by supporting renewable energy projects – or for them to adapt to the negative effects of climate change – for example by protecting homes, crops or introducing Warning systems for meteorological risks. —.
The last major announcement of a United States contribution to this fund was in 2014, during the Barack Obama administration. The Democrat was already struggling to fully implement that promise because he did not have a majority in his state Senate.
Harris, in his speech to the COP28 plenary session this Saturday, defended the measures that his government is developing, such as the massive installation of solar panels and the development of electric vehicles. “We are reducing our emissions.” But he has also warned against those in power who “deny climate science,” delay “action” on warming or spread misinformation, which has led many to think of Republican Donald Trump. In addition, he has criticized large companies that use Ecopostureo to hide their lack of action to reduce emissions.
However, the $3 billion allocation announced by Harris is not intended for the new loss and damage fund already established at this summit in Dubai. The Green Fund, into which the millions announced by the US will flow, is a financing instrument focused on measures to reduce gases or prepare for the effects of climate change. However, the new loss and damage instrument now created is intended to compensate the most vulnerable countries for the impacts that global warming has already caused or will cause them. In the latter case, the United States has only committed to providing $17 million for its activation.
The question of compensation is much more sensitive in international negotiations on climate change. The United States bears primary responsibility for this crisis. Together with the European Union, it collects a third of all the carbon dioxide that humanity has emitted since 1850, when massive burning of fossil fuels began. That’s why the United States has always resisted opening the door to compensation for global warming, which can run into hundreds of billions of dollars.
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Triple renewable energy
In any case, Harris’ announcement is intended to restore confidence in the negotiations of many developing countries, which for years have seen even the richest nations fail to keep their financing promises. And the action already underway in Dubai, which will last until December 12, is now about finding a way to eliminate greenhouse gases so that warming stays within safe limits.
The largest emitting sector is the energy sector, and the question of how to decouple this sector from fossil fuels is one of the key battles of this summit. On the one hand, an explicit commitment is sought so that this COP28 emerges with an explicit demand that the world’s renewable energy output triples and energy efficiency doubles by the end of this decade. 117 countries have already signed up to an EU declaration on this matter, which was officially presented at COP28 this Saturday. In addition to the 27 European countries, the text also has significant support from other governments, such as the United States, Japan, Brazil, Australia, Chile and Colombia. the United Kingdom and Canada.
The statement also includes a reference to increasing energy efficiency (which means reducing consumption) and the need to “advance the global movement toward fossil fuel-free energy systems without reducing emissions” before they end up in the atmosphere, for Example). Although the declaration has strong support, the signatories do not include China, India and Saudi Arabia, which could portend difficult negotiations in the coming days. The biggest disagreement is not about the goal of tripling renewable energy, but rather the demand to gradually abandon all fossil fuels at this summit.
Oil companies
The United Arab Emirates, which signed the EU-sponsored declaration, is one of the largest oil and gas producing countries in the world, which has caused considerable controversy by hosting this climate conference. As host country, this country is responsible for leading the negotiations. The COP28 presidency under Energy Minister Sultan al Jaber (who is also CEO of his country’s state-owned hydrocarbon company ANOC) has insisted that the fight against climate change must also include the fossil fuel sector. In fact, this Saturday, together with Saudi Arabia, it presented an initiative in this spirit: a commitment by 50 major oil and gas companies, which account for more than 40% of global crude oil production, to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, those of carbon dioxide and methane.
The signatories commit to achieving zero net CO2 emissions in their operations by 2050 at the latest. In addition, methane emissions will be significantly reduced and the routine combustion of this gas, which is carried out on some farms, will be stopped. What is “important progress” for the COP presidency is nothing more than greenwashing or eco-posturing for environmental organizations and climate activists.
More than 300 organizations have published a letter criticizing this initiative for focusing only on the operational phase and not requiring its signatories to reduce oil and gas production. As they explain, the majority of emissions do not occur during the operational phase. Only later, when these fossil fuels are burned, between 80 and 90% of the gases are emitted. Therefore, the only solution is to reduce production, they argue.
But these quotes don’t just talk about fossil fuels. At all summits, the nuclear energy industry tries to stand out and assert itself as a source that produces energy without direct emissions. Although it is not on the agenda of this COP to mention nuclear energy in the balance that will emerge from the conference, this sector organizes events on the sidelines of the summits. In this context, 21 countries – including the USA, France, Canada, Japan, the United Kingdom and Ukraine – have committed to tripling their nuclear power by 2050 in order to also contribute to the fight against climate change.
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