The climate high mass opened this Saturday in Dubai with a sermon from the Pope. “May this COP be a turning point: may it demonstrate a clear and tangible political will, leading to a decisive acceleration of the ecological transition,” demands the sovereign pontiff, in a letter read by the number two of the Vatican, the cardinal secretary of State Pietro Parolin.
And this “through forms which have three characteristics: that they are effective, restrictive and easily controllable. That they be implemented in four areas: energy efficiency, renewable sources, the elimination of fossil fuels and education for lifestyles less dependent on them.” Pope Francis, who had to give up traveling to Dubai himself due to bronchitis, has made the defense of the environment his priority since his election in 2013. In 2015 he dedicated the encyclical Laudato si to ecology, and published on October 4 a new text on the climate, Laudate Deum.
Unconstrained commitments
Declarations and commitments then followed one another. The Vice-President of the United States, Kamala Harris, announced a contribution of three billion dollars to the Green Climate Fund, making up for years of non-contribution from the richest country in the world.
The question of energy largely occupied this new day of the summit. Around twenty countries including the United States, France and the United Arab Emirates have, for example, called for tripling nuclear energy capacities in the world by 2050, compared to 2020, to reduce dependence on coal and to gas, in a joint declaration.
Triple renewables
At least 118 countries have also committed to tripling the world’s renewable capacities by 2030. But, contrary to the Pope’s hope, this commitment is not binding. And a sign of the magnitude of the road that remains to be accomplished, the list provided by the presidency of COP28 does not include the largest producing or consuming countries of fossil fuels: Russia, Saudi Arabia, China, Iran, Iraq, Venezuela , Kuwait, Qatar…
The announcement, prepared for months and already supported by the G20 countries, is a “very strong message” to the markets, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, told AFP on site. Will this commitment end in a decision by the COP, which would be binding on all signatories to the Paris agreement?