EU chief negotiator Wobke Hoekstra called the current draft final text disappointing and inadequate.
Just before the scheduled end of the World Climate Conference in Dubai, the EU and dozens of other countries intend to implement far-reaching improvements to the planned final text. EU chief negotiator Wobke Hoekstra called the UAE hosts' draft on Monday night disappointing and inadequate.
Representatives from environmental organizations expressed some shock and outrage. The background is that the phase-out of coal, oil and gas demanded by more than 100 countries no longer appears in the text – unlike previous versions.
“The project presented does not do justice to the seriousness of the situation. “Fossil fuels as a cause of the climate crisis are being explicitly mentioned for the first time – but unfortunately the numerous mitigations around them clearly offset this,” said Austrian Environment Minister Leonore Gewessler (Greens). Improvements are now required, the department head said. “We’ve heard enough excuses.”
Extending the summit would not be a problem
Under the plan, two-week negotiations between nearly 200 governments are scheduled to end on Tuesday afternoon. As has almost always happened over the past 20 years, the conference could now be extended. But this is not a problem for the European delegation.
Several countries have recently expressed concerns about the decision to phase out fossil fuels, including oil-rich Saudi Arabia, but also China, Iraq, India and Russia.
Later, all heads of delegation met to discuss the impasse. Hoekstra and German State Secretary for Climate Jennifer Morgan also met with the High Ambition Coalition – a group of industrialized nations and particularly vulnerable countries who want to move forward with ambition in the fight against the climate crisis.
Hoekstra wrote on the platform “This is what science demands and this is what our children deserve.” The chief negotiator for the Marshall Islands, threatened by rising sea levels, John Silk, said they did not come to Dubai “to sign our death warrant”. .
The future of coal, oil and gas
Among other things, the text lacked concrete instruments to move forward on the 1.5 degree path and to boost the necessary energy transition, especially in many regions of Africa, Asia and Latin America – which these states in Dubai would have vehemently demanded. And the passage on fossil energy incorrectly suggests that coal, oil and gas could continue to play a crucial role in our future.
From the beginning there was much criticism about the fact that the president of the conference, Sultan al-Jaber, was also the head of the state oil company Adnoc and that around 1,400 coal, oil and gas lobbyists had been officially accredited. Al-Jaber said the time for discussions was coming to an end, but also indicated in the evening that he expected improvements to the text. “We still have a lot of gaps to fill,” he said. “We must present a result that respects science and keeps the 1.5 degree target within our reach.” He expects delegates to have the highest ambition on all counts – “including when it comes to language about fossil fuels.” (APA/dpa)