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Though"Drunk on Oil and Gas," US Supports Fossil Fuel Phase-out @ COP 28 [1]

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Date: 2023-12-10  

With just 1 ½ days remaining, COP28 President Sultan Al Jaber Sunday called for the parties to exhibit flexibility as they reach an impasse in whether to call for the “phase-out” or “phase down” of fossil fuels in the global stocktake (GST). The UN talks end mid-day on Tuesday.

“I want everyone to come prepared with solutions,” said Al Jaber, whose presidency has been controversial. “I want everyone to come ready to be flexible and to accept compromise. I told everyone not to come with any prepared statements and no prescribed positions. I really want everyone to rise above self-interests and to start thinking of the common good.”

Ratification of the final agreement requires unanimous consent and Saudi Arabis is currently refusing any mention of fossil fuels in the text while also not cooperating with the goal of “tripling global renewable energy capacity by 2030,” according to New York Times reporting.

Saudi diplomats have been particularly skillful at blocking discussions and slowing the talks, according to interviews with a dozen people who have been inside closed-door negotiations. Tactics include inserting words into draft agreements that are considered poison pills by other countries; slow-walking a provision meant to help vulnerable countries adapt to climate change; staging a walkout in a side meeting; and refusing to sit down with negotiators pressing for a phaseout of fossil fuels.

The Guardian reports that fossil fuel is not the only area of contention remaining, as developing countries express their concerns that rich developed nations have not adequately addressed adaptation finance. These funds would be used for strengthening infrastructure, setting up early warning systems, planting mangroves, and other interventions that might help poorer nations adapt to the impacts of climate change.

Still, the fact that fossil fuel production and use has emerged as the key bone of contention in Dubai is a positive sign. The Guardian reports:

Catherine Abreu, Destination Zero, said: “In 8 years of attending climate talks, I have never felt more that we were talking about what really matters. Hearing ministers from all around the world talk straight about the realities of phasing out fossil fuels is something I could not have imagined happening in this process even two years ago. “What’s clear after this Majlis dialogue at COP28 is that there is overwhelming consensus that phasing out fossil fuels and scaling up renewable energy is absolutely necessary to hold to the promise of the Paris Agreement and keep the hope of 1.5 alive. It is also clear that the task ahead is enormous, and will require courage and conviction. Rich countries need to provide the financial and technological support to make it happen, and equity demands that those with greater responsibility move first.”

The United States, under the leadership of Climate Envoy John Kerry is a vocal supporter of phasing out fossil fuels, even as the nation leads the world in oil production.

"We ourselves are drunk on oil and natural gas that the United States exports every single day," Senator Ed Markey, a member of Biden's Democratic Party elected to Kerry's former seat, told reporters at COP28.

Barrons reports:

"While it's talking about a phase-out here, we also need the Biden administration to do more at home," said Allie Rosenbluth of the advocacy group Oil Change International. She also said the administration was betting on "technologies that we know don't work and that are prohibitively expensive" -- a reference to the heavy investment in carbon capture, which aims to reduce emissions from fossil fuels. -snip- "There is a tangible shift that we've seen in the US foreign policy on climate where they are moving away from reliance on carbon capture and storage and other technologies and pure market mechanisms to address the climate emergency," said Jean Su of the Center for Biological Diversity. There is one elephant in the room at COP28 -- US elections are less than a year away, with Trump seeking to return to the White House.

Meanwhile, the International Energy Energy issued a report Sunday claiming the pledges made at COP28 fall short of what is needed to keep global temperatures from rising above 1.5 degrees C, the target set in the 2015 Paris Agreement.

“The IEA’s very latest assessment of these pledges shows that if they are fully implemented by their signatories to date, they would bridge only 30% of the gap to reaching international climate goals,” Executive Director Fatih Birol told CNN. “There is a need for more countries and companies to join the pledges — and for agreement on an orderly and just decline of global fossil fuel use if we want to keep the 1.5 °C goal in reach.”

Al Jaber told reporters Sunday he is concerned about the slow pace of the talks.

“Time is ticking. The clock is ticking, and I’m sure you can all hear it, just like how I am able to hear it,” he said, “and we need to move much, much, much faster.”

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) rolled out a multi-year project commencing in Dubai to achieve SDG 2 (eliminating hunger) without breaching 1.5 degrees, claiming “accelerated climate actions can transform agrifood systems and help achieve food security and nutrition for all, today and tomorrow.” Currently, the global agrifood system emits one-third of all emissions.

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