A proposed agreement at the COP28 climate negotiations in Dubai does not require countries to cut out fossil fuels progressively. Global climate change and an increase in severe weather are mostly caused by these fuels.
The document was made public two days ago. Critics said that nations with large oil reserves had diluted the urgency of banning fossil fuels by using their clout.
“You know what remains to be agreed, and you know that I want you to deliver the highest ambition on all items, including on fossil fuel language,” COP28 President Sultan al-Jaber asserted in the summit. He was pointing out that until the conference ends on Tuesday, saying there is still opportunity to resolve disagreements.
Of the over 200 nations present at the UN climate negotiations, over one hundred have demanded the phase-out of fossil fuels that cause global warming. Saudi Arabia and other oil-producing countries are adamantly against the inclusion of such language.
Saudi Arabia has put immense pressure on the host nation, the United Arab Emirates, to remove all references to fossil fuels from the summit’s agreement. Citing anonymous people who were aware of the talks, Reuters verified the stories.
Eight choices that countries “could” adopt to reduce emissions are included in Monday’s draft, which drops the prior request to “phase out” all fossil fuels. Since its inception, the conference has been under fire for its strong links to the fossil fuel industry. The criticism grew more intense, particularly after al-Jaber, the head of a state oil corporation in the United Arab Emirates, was appointed to lead the climate discussions.
Al-Jaber also faced criticism following the release of a recording in which he seemed to refute certain aspects of climate change research.
COP28 Draft Language
The US Department of State stated that the draft’s wording about fossil fuels needs to be “substantially strengthened” in a statement released on Monday. The agreement could not be supported by her administration, according to the German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.
Some proponents of climate change were even harsher in their criticism against the COP28 draft. The Center for Biological Diversity says, “This crucial COP will be a failure if this race-to-the-bottom monstrosity gets enshrined as the final word.”
The draft has also been criticized by small island states, who would be disproportionately affected by the hardships brought on by climate change. The document was compared to a death warrant by them.
The embargo on oil-producing countries has kicked off in a condition that these nations owe a great part of their business plans to the revenue by the oil sale. A recent report divulged that Saudi Arabia started an initiative in Africa to boost the use of fossil fuels in developing nations.
