BERLIN (AP) — A senior United Arab Emirates official has said the Gulf nation wants the United Nations climate summit it is hosting later this year to produce “game-changing results” for international efforts to curb global warming, but that will require having the fossil fuel industry at the table.
Environmental activists have denounced the presence of oil and gas lobbyists in previous rounds of talks, warning that their interests oppose the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, caused largely by burning of fossil fuels. Last month, dozens of US and European lawmakers called for the summit’s president-elect, Sultan al-Jaber, to be replaced because of his ties to Abu Dhabi’s state oil company.
The issue complicates already delicate negotiations ahead of the November 30-December 12 meeting in Dubai, known as COP28. Preliminary talks to begin next week in Bonn, Germany, will show whether the future UAE presidency can overcome skepticism from parties and civil society groups about its ability to steer nearly 200 nations to a historic deal. .
“Our leadership has been very clear to me, our team and our president that they don’t just want another progressive COP,” said Majid al-Suwaidi, who as the summit’s chief executive plays a key role in diplomatic negotiations. “They want a COP that is going to deliver real, important and game-changing results because they see, like all of us, that we are not on track to meet the Paris goals.”
Governments agreed eight years ago in the French capital to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) – ideally no more than 1.5C (2.7F). With average global temperatures already about 1.2°C (2.2°F) above pre-industrial levels, experts say the window to achieve the most ambitious goal is closing fast and even the most ambitious goal less stringent would be missed if emissions are not sharply reduced soon.
“We need to have everyone around the table to discuss with us how to achieve this,” 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 hard to cut sectors,” he said, adding: “We need everyone who can offer what they can, no matter who they are.
Al-Suwaidi pushed back against the idea that the fossil fuel industry would undermine meaningful talks on emissions cuts as it has done in the past through disinformation campaigns and by keeping silent about its own knowledge about the climate change.
“There is no doubt in my mind that the position of the industry has completely changed and they are engaging with us in an active conversation,” he said.
Asked whether the talks could consider a fossil fuel phase-out, proposed last year by the countries most vulnerable to climate change, al-Suwaidi said the presidency would not prevent such talks.
“We welcome any kind of discussion,” the former UAE ambassador to Spain said. “But it’s the parties who will decide what this discussion is and where we land.”
So far, summit chair-designate al-Jaber has stressed the need to reduce emissions, rather than ending the use of fossil fuels itself. It raises fears he is looking for loopholes for untested carbon capture technologies and so-called offsets – both aimed at reducing current levels of carbon dioxide in the air – which experts say divert attention to the need to end the emission of greenhouse gases.
A report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change earlier this year called for an almost two-thirds cut in carbon emissions by 2035, warning that failure to do so dramatically increases the risk of drought, flooding, sea level rise and other short and long term hazards. long-term disasters.
Al-Suwaidi, who also has a background in the oil and gas sector, said the UAE’s leaders were acutely aware of the existential threat global warming poses – including to their own sun-rich but water-poor country. water – and committed to switching from fossil fuels to renewable energies such as wind and solar.
“We want to be part of this new economy,” he said. “We are a country heading headlong into that future.”
Al-Suwaidi said agreeing on a global target to develop renewable energy in Dubai could send a positive message to those worried about the transformation needed to stop climate change.
“Rather than talking about what we’re stopping people from doing, let’s talk about how we’re helping them adopt solutions…that are going to help us solve the emissions problem that we have,” he said. .
The Dubai talks will also see countries complete the first “global inventory” of climate change efforts since Paris in 2015. The results are intended to inform a new round of nations’ commitments to reduce emissions and address climate change challenges. impacts of global warming.
Poor nations are also demanding that rich countries keep their promises of vast financial support, an issue that has often caused major disagreements in previous meetings.
“We need the developing world to jump into this new climate system and we need to support this transition for them,” al-Suwaidi said. “Finance is going to be really fundamental at COP28.”
This will require rich countries, including the major Group of Seven economies, which are historically responsible for much of the world’s emissions, to step up their efforts, he said.
“They have the technology. They have the know-how. They have the financial capacity. We need them to take on this leadership role and show us that they are serious about meeting this challenge.