The tough fight to phase out fossil energy at COP28 Was that it for Bibi Netanyahu?

The World Climate Conference is fighting hard for the global phasing out of coal, oil and gas. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz explicitly called for this move away from fossil fuels during his flying visit to Dubai last weekend.

According to a report, the COP28 host from the United Arab Emirates doubts whether the exit is scientifically necessary to achieve climate protection goals. Observers and climate activists reacted with outrage. And they would like to see more determination from the SPD chancellor, who campaigned as ‘climate chancellor’, in the fight against global warming.

Several environmental associations welcomed Scholz’s signal to phase out fossil fuels. The German Chancellor said on Saturday:

Climate activists see a gap between words and actions

But these words do not fit with “the fact that the federal government is working against the Paris Agreement by building new fossil fuel infrastructure for the import of liquefied gas and at the same time undermining the law on climate protection,” Jan said. Kowalzig from development organization Oxfam. “The Chancellor has wisely kept this quiet.”

WWF climate chief Viviane Raddatz added that the climate conference with around 200 countries is not just about signals, but above all about implementation.

The German chapter of Fridays for Future, with several activists in Dubai, described it as a success by urging Scholz to mention the phase-out of fossil fuels at an in-person meeting. Luisa Neubauer also called on the Chancellor to “create a special fund of 100 billion euros for climate protection and socially just transformation.”

Phasing out fossils very controversial

However, it is unlikely that the world’s countries will actually agree on a global exit from coal, oil and gas in Dubai – especially as conference chairman Sultan Al-Jaber plays a questionable role as head of the state oil company. .

The British ‘Guardian’ and the ‘Centre for Climate Reporting’ reported on Sunday that he had said in a video link with UN representatives in November that there was ‘no science’ to prove that phasing out fossil fuels was necessary to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees compared to pre-industrial times.

He also claimed that development without the use of fossil fuels was not possible “unless you want to catapult the world into the Stone Age.” Climate scientists and activists reacted with outrage, with some once again questioning its suitability as a host.

“This story is just another attempt to undermine the presidency’s agenda, which is clear and transparent” and “has achieved tangible successes,” a COP28 spokesperson said on Sunday in response to a request from the German Press Agency. “We’re not sure what this message is actually supposed to say. Nothing in it is new or breaking news.” It continued: “The COP President is clear that the gradual phasing out of fossil fuel use is inevitable and that we must keep the 1.5 degree target within reach.”

In an earlier response to the Guardian report, the presidency said that Al-Jaber had referred to the fact that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change also assumed in its scenarios that fossil fuels would continue to play a role in the energy system of the future – including even if it is a smaller one.

Blocking oil and gas producers

A front is already emerging among the negotiating states that absolutely wants to prevent the exit: Saudi Arabia, Russia and Iraq, as oil and gas exporters, oppose this, according to activists. According to the non-governmental organization Destination Zero and other observers, the countries openly expressed their rejection during the initial negotiations.

For Pacific island nations like Tuvalu, the phase-out of fossil fuels is about livelihoods: the prime minister of the state of over 11,000 people, Kausea Natano, called for an immediate halt to all new oil and gas drilling – followed by a rapid phase -of all fossil fuels.

Tuvalu’s highest point is just two meters above sea level and up to 40 percent of the country’s surface is often underwater. The citizens wanted to be able to continue living on their land in the future.

The Prime Minister of the Caribbean island nation of Antigua and Barbuda, Gaston Browne, added:

Instead of coal, oil and gas: renewable energy and nuclear energy

Less controversial than saying goodbye to fossil fuels is the goal of tripling energy production from renewable energy sources worldwide by 2030 and doubling energy efficiency.

However, many countries also want to rely more on nuclear energy to meet their energy needs in the future: among others, all G7 countries except Germany and Italy have announced that they want to triple their capacity here by 2050. In total, more than twenty countries signed the joint declaration.

(hah/sda/dpa)