Declarations are pouring out at COP28 this weekend. To better navigate this Big-Mic-Mac, 20 minutes offers a best-of of the most essential information for this Sunday.
Fossil fuel advocates
For the 194 countries and the European Union, meeting in the negotiations in Dubai, reaching an agreement on fossil fuels is particularly perilous. Saudi Arabia and Iraq expressed this Sunday their frank opposition to an agreement aimed at phasing out fossil fuels. Riyadh called for its “prospects” and “concerns” to be taken into account, the kingdom being the world’s leading oil exporter. Increasingly isolated while China is considered constructive, Saudi Arabia is accused of derailing discussions, to block everything.
“Including” in the text “the reduction, the exit from fossil fuels, and the withdrawal from subsidies to fossil fuels is contrary to the principles of the Paris agreement”, for his part estimated the head of the Iraqi delegation. “This would disrupt the global economy and increase inequality in the world,” he said.
The funny conductor
The Emirati president of COP28, Sultan Al Jaber, is stepping up pressure this Sunday on all the countries negotiating in Dubai on the end of fossil fuels. “Failure is not an option. We are looking for the general interest,” assured Sultan Al Jaber, boss of the oil company Adnoc.
“We need to find consensus and common ground on fossil fuels, including coal,” he added, boasting of being the first COP president to call for fossils to be cited in any agreement final. Coal was mentioned in 2021 in Glasgow.
The troublemakers
Activists briefly burst into the pavilion of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) at COP28 on Sunday to call for an exit from fossil fuels. A handful of activists arrived at an event at the OPEC pavilion in Dubai, where they were invited to sit down before speaking for a few minutes.
“We know that OPEC sent a letter to its members asking them to oppose an exit from fossil fuels and we think this is a bad sign,” declared Nicolas Haeringer of the NGO 350.org in front of astonished visitors to the stand. “For us, having an OPEC pavilion at the COP is like having a huge oil drill in the negotiations,” he denounced.
The whistleblower
Vanuatu’s climate change minister singled out the “small minority of countries blocking progress” on phasing out fossil fuels at COP28. “We hope that the fact that the majority of countries want a mention of fossil fuels, an exit from fossil fuels, will be taken into account, and that this can be in the text. Because otherwise, we will not consider this COP a success,” said Ralph Regenvanu, who leads the Pacific state’s delegation to Dubai.
“The small minority of countries blocking progress must change their position. And this is what we are working on over the next two days,” he stressed, as the COP is due to end on Tuesday. ” Today [dimanche] and tomorrow will be the critical days to have an agreement. If it is true that all countries negotiate in good faith to obtain a good result, then we will have a good result,” he hopes.