Commitment to end fossil fuels remains uncertain in Dubai
Published: Tuesday, Dec 5th 2023, 09:40
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At the UN Climate Change Conference in Dubai, it remains questionable whether a commitment to abandon the use of fossil fuels will be reached. A new draft text for the planned final document circulated on Tuesday initially only lists various options. One of these is not to mention the topic at all.
The most far-reaching variant calls for an "orderly and fair phase-out of fossil fuels". A third variant calls for "accelerating efforts to phase out fossil fuels in the absence of emission capture devices and rapidly reduce their use in order to achieve carbon neutrality in the energy system by or around mid-century".
The future use of fossil fuels is one of the main points of contention at the COP. Oil- and gas-exporting countries in particular are resisting calls for a phase-out, as are a number of other countries that still use fossil fuels on a large scale. Conversely, numerous other countries and the EU are pushing for the phase-out perspective to be enshrined in the final document of the climate conference. In Dubai, Switzerland is calling for resolutions to phase out oil and gas by 2050 and coal by 2040.
Variants also for coal
The draft text also contains various options for the continued use of coal. These range from abandoning coal-fired power plants without capturing emissions by the end of the decade and abandoning new coal-fired power plants to reducing the use of such power plants by 75 percent by 2030 (compared to 2019). Another option here is to refrain from making a statement to this effect.
The draft text also contains the demand to triple the global installed capacity of renewable energies by 2030 and to increase annual progress in energy efficiency from the current two percent to 4.1 percent. However, this section of the text is also marked as optional, meaning that it can still be deleted. The same applies to another passage that advocates the capture, use or storage of carbon dioxide (CCS or CCU), as well as the production of hydrogen with low CO2 emissions.
Saudis against moving away from fossil fuels
The 24-page paper generally "emphasizes" and "reaffirms" that the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees should be "kept within reach". It also expresses concern about new temperature records and increasing climate impacts. It also confirms that scientific findings should form the basis for further action.
The text refers to the "global stocktake" of the results to date and the requirements for climate protection within the framework of the Paris Agreement. The draft will now be discussed further, primarily in the so-called ministerial segment of the conference starting on Friday.
Saudi Arabia opposed a move away from fossil fuels. Energy Minister Abdulasis bin Salman told the Bloomberg news agency in Riyadh that his country would "absolutely not" agree to such demands at the climate conference. Unanimity is required for resolutions at the climate conference, with abstentions being treated as agreement.
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