[ad_1]
BERLIN (AP) — A senior United Arab Emirates official said the Gulf nation hoped that a United Nations climate summit later this year to host a “game-changing outcome” for international efforts to curb global warming, but Doing so requires an industry that has fossil fuels on the table.
Environmentalists have Assault on existence of oil and gas lobbyists In previous rounds of talks, they warned that their interests opposed targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions – which are largely caused by the burning of fossil fuels.last month’s score U.S. and European lawmakers call for The summit’s designated chairman, Sultan al-Jaber, was replaced because of his ties to the state-owned ADNOC.
The issue complicates already delicate negotiations ahead of the COP28 meeting in Dubai from Nov. 30 to Dec. 12. Preliminary talks starting next week in Bonn, Germany, will show whether the incoming UAE president can overcome skepticism from various parties and civil society groups about his ability to guide nearly 200 countries to a landmark agreement.
“Our leadership has been very clear to me, our team and our president that they don’t want another incremental COP,” said Majid al-Suwaidi, who played a key role in diplomatic negotiations as the summit’s director-general. Role. “They want a COP that delivers real, significant, game-changing results because they see that, like all of us, we’re not on track to achieve our Paris goals.”
Eight years ago in the French capital, governments agreed to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) — Ideally no more than 1.5C (2.7F). Global average temperatures are already about 1.2C (2.2F) above pre-industrial levels, and experts say the window to more ambitious targets is closing fast, and even less stringent targets will fail if emissions are not cut sharply soon. will not be possible.
“We need to get everyone at the table and talk to us about how we can make this happen,” al-Suwaidi told The Associated Press in an interview on Friday.
“We need oil and gas, we need industry, we need aviation, we need shipping, we need all the industries that are hard to weaken,” he said, adding: “We need all the industries that can provide what they can, regardless of their who is it.”
Al-Suwaidi pushes back on the idea that the fossil fuel industry will sabotage meaningful emissions cut talks, as they have done in the past disinformation campaign and keep quiet their own knowledge of climate change.
“There’s no question in my mind that the industry’s position has completely changed and they’re having an active conversation with us,” he said.
Asked whether the talks might consider Countries proposed phasing out fossil fuels last year The country most vulnerable to climate change, al-Suwaidi said the presidency would not preclude such conversations.
“We welcome discussions of any kind,” said the former UAE ambassador to Spain. “But the parties will decide what is discussed and where we land.”
Al Jaber, the summit’s designated chair, has so far stressed the need to cut emissions, rather than ending the use of fossil fuels themselves. This raises concerns that he might be looking for bugs for untested programs carbon capture technology and so-called offset – both aimed at reducing current levels of carbon dioxide in the air – which experts say would distract from the need to end greenhouse gas emissions.
A report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change It called earlier this year to cut carbon emissions by almost two-thirds by 2035, warning that failure to do so would greatly increase the risk of droughts, floods, rising sea levels and other short- and long-term hazards.
Al-Suwaidi, who also has a background in the oil and gas industry, said the UAE leadership is acutely aware of the existential threats posed by global warming — including to their own sun-drenched but water-poor country — and is committed to switching from fossil fuels. Switch to renewable energy sources like wind and solar.
“We want to be part of this new economy,” he said. “We’re a nation that’s leading the charge into the future.”
Al-Suwaidi agrees Global target to increase renewable energy The event in Dubai could send a positive message to those anxious about the changes needed to stop climate change.
“Instead of talking about what we stop people from doing, talk about how we can help them adopt solutions … that will help us solve the emissions problem we face,” he said.
The talks in Dubai will also see the first “global stocktake” of countries’ efforts to tackle climate change since the 2015 Paris agreement. The results are intended to inform a new round of commitments by countries to reduce emissions and combat the effects of global warming.
It is a recurring problem that poor countries also demand that rich countries honor their promises of substantial financial support caused major disagreements in past meetings.
“We need developing countries to leapfrog into this new climate system and we need to support their transition,” al-Suwaidi said. “At COP28, finance will be the real foundation.”
This will require rich countries, including the G7 major economies, who Historically responsible for a significant portion of global emissionsstep up, he said.
“They have the technology. They have the know-how. They have the financial capacity. We need their leadership to show us that we are serious about taking on this challenge.”
[ad_2]
Source link