United Nations: The future of fossil fuels, the top source of earth-heating emissions, faces scrutiny at United Nations (UN) climate talks Monday, with an under-fire Emirati oil minister is set to step into the driver’s seat.
As the world struggles to limit heat to 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels, pressure is on the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to arrive in Germany with big plans for its presidency of Dubai’s December 2022 COP28 climate conference.
The choice of Sultan al-Jaber – chief of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company– to head COP28 has triggered demands from lawmakers and campaigners for him to step aside.
Al-Jaber supports the rapid development of renewable energy. But he has also addressed tackling carbon pollution.
European Climate Foundation’s head Laurence Tubiana said that the presidency must quickly show where its ambition lies: increasing renewables is part of it, but recognizing that would not be enough for this COP.
She said it was necessary to recognize that the fossil era was ending.
On Sunday, the UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, responsible for supervising the preparations for COP28, met with US special presidential diplomat for climate John Kerry, also attended by Al-Jaber.
The three reviewed US-UAE initiatives, including the UAE-US Partnership for Accelerating Clean Energy, which will catalyze 100 billion dollars in financing.
Last Year’s Climate Conference
Last year’s UN climate conference in Egypt reached a landmark agreement to help vulnerable nations cope with climate-enhanced calamities. But it failed to toughen up commitments to tackle pollution, despite the support from more than eighty countries.
The Bonn gathering will strive to close the gap on a past-due pledge of 100 billion dollars annually to help poorer nations make their economies greener and prepare for future climate disasters.
Experts will also look for signs of how about 200 countries represented will respond to the first-ever “Global Stocktake”, scheduled in September, of progress made in decreasing carbon emissions.
