Draft UN climate deal ditches fossil fuel phase-out - Yahoo News
Draft UN climate deal ditches fossil fuel phase-out
STORY: The draft language of a United Nations deal on climate change, unfolding at a summit in Dubai, does not include language to phase out the use of fossil fuels...
... language that is being demanded by over a hundred countries, including some top oil and gas producers such as the United States, as well as the European Union's delegation.
The summit, known as COP28, has been running for two weeks and the impasse has set up a difficult final round of negotiations.
Sources familiar with the talks have told Reuters that the UAE, which is hosting the event, has come under pressure from Saudi Arabia, the de facto leader of OPEC, to drop any mention of ditching fossil fuels.
It's left some delegates distraught.
This was Canada's climate minister Steven Guilbeault:
"I understand. Like we're the fourth largest oil and gas producer, we get it. It's complicated. It's unnerving. It creates uncertainty in parts of our country. But it's not a reason not not to do it and not to tackle this problem. And even if we bury our heads in the sand, it's still going to happen."
Some young activists used hot air to push the conference to act. These balloons spell the word "Yalla" outside the venue, meaning, "Let's go" in Arabic. A Saudi government spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
Although the language doesn't include ending fossil fuels as-is, it does include other options such as reducing the use of fossil fuels to achieve carbon neutrality around the year 2050, and ramping up technologies that capture carbon emissions, to keep it out of the atmosphere.
Representatives from some Pacific Island countries which are already suffering from rising sea levels, such as Samoa and the Marshall Islands, said the weaker language, if adopted, is a death warrant.
Related Knowledge Center: Climate economics
Climate change is now a driver of the world’s economy. The impact is profound:
- Catastrophic weather events — hurricanes, floods, droughts, high temperatures — are more frequent and more extreme. The cost can be measured in both the initial damage caused and the longer-term impact on the economy.
- Vulnerable communities are increasing climate-related investments, hardening infrastructure and taking other protective measures.
- Investment in carbon capture and storage technologies is increasingly rapidly.
- Governments are making investments and crafting regulations to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
On top of all of this is the cost of uncertainty. As the Fourth National Climate Assessment, released in 2018 by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, says, “The assumption that current and future climate conditions will resemble the recent past is no longer valid.”