COP28President requests countries to work faster،harder،be flexible،as big divisions overtop fossil fuels

Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber، United Arab Emirates Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and COP28 President، spoke during a press conference at the United Nations Climate Change Conference، and called on countries to work harder، be flexible and accept compromise to reach a deal on tackling climate change، including wording for the first time on the future of fossil fuels as big divisions loom over fossil fuels that coming up against tough opposition led by the oil producer group OPEC and its allies، as the summit talks head into final phase.

Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber، United Arab Emirates Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and COP28 President، told journalists as negotiators started to tackle some of the more contentious issues in the deal، such as the future for fossil fuels، that watering down the ambition of the deal and failure were not options.

Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber called on countries to work faster، and harder، be flexible

Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber، United Arab Emirates Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and COP28 President، urged negotiators from more than 80 countries to work harder to find consensus on a proposed first-of-its-kind deal to phase out the world's use of fossil fuels، as the two-week conference entered its final stage.

Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber، United Arab Emirates Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and COP28 President، affirmed that the talks in Dubai have highlighted deep international divisions over the future role of oil، gas and coal that are complicating efforts by nearly 200 countries to hash out an agreement before the summit's scheduled end on Dec. 12.

More than 80 countries agree at COP28 to phase out fossil fuels

Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber، United Arab Emirates Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and COP28 President، indicated that a coalition of more than 80 countries including the United States، the European Union and small island nations are pushing for an agreement at COP28 that includes language to “phase out” fossil fuels، the main source of greenhouse gas emissions that scientists blame for global warming.

Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber، COP28 President، took the unusual step of convening a 'majlis'، an Arabic term for a communal gathering، where delegations could speak in a different forum to the formal forward-facing plenary hall، while seeking a breakthrough، as the summit in the end game he hopes that the world leaders won't let me down.

OPEC had issued a letter to its members to oppose any language targeting fossil fuels in a COP28 deal

Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber، COP28 President، spoke in a circular configuration with delegations who restated their positions، but it was not immediately obvious that the forum had yielded a shift in positions as OPEC had issued a letter to its members and backers on Dec. 6 asking them to oppose any language targeting fossil fuels in a COP28 deal، and observers in the negotiations told that some of those delegations appeared to be heeding the call.

OPEC’s biggest producer and de facto leader Saudi Arabia، along with Russia and others، have argued that the focus of COP28 should be on reducing emissions، not on targeting the fuel sources that cause them، while China’s top climate envoy، Xie Zhenhua، said a COP28 deal can only be considered a success if it includes an agreement on fossil fuels، though he did not say whether Beijing would back a phase-out deal.

Xie Zhenhua، China’s top climate envoy، said that the positions on the issue are currently very antagonistic، and China is trying to find a solution that is acceptable to all parties and can solve the problems، describing COP28 as the hardest climate summit of his career.

The countries were still considering a range of options concerning phase out of fossil fuels

Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber، COP28 President، stated that the latest version of the core negotiating text، released on Friday، shows that countries were still considering a range of options، from agreeing to a "phase out of fossil fuels in line with best available science،" to phasing out "unabated fossil fuels"، to including no mention at all.

Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber، COP28 President، explained during the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai، United Arab Emirates، that abating fossil fuels typically means reducing their climate impact by either capturing and storing their carbon dioxide emissions but carbon capture is expensive and has yet to be proven at scale.

Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber، COP28 President، should focus on cutting emissions

Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber، COP28 President، did not intend to release another draft until Monday، something that would leave negotiators just one full day to resolve differences ahead of the conference’s scheduled end on Tuesday before noon، while a representative for Saudi Arabia's delegation reiterated its position that a COP28 deal should not pick and choose energy sources، but should instead focus on cutting emissions.

Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber، COP28 President، has been thinking hard with his team about how to send an inclusive signal to the world on what the science is telling entirely without cherry picking، and have raised the consistent concerns over the attempts to attack energy sources instead of emissions.

Possible flexibility on the fossil fuel language

Britain and Australia were among the few countries to offer a glimmer of compromise، saying flexibility on the fossil fuel language was possible as long as there were enough safeguards، meanwhile، the European Union، reiterated its position that the phase-out of fossil fuels was an essential component of any deal to avert the worst of climate change.

The conference has yielded a slew of other commitments from countries to hit targets like tripling renewable energy and nuclear power deployments، slash coal use and curb emissions of the powerful greenhouse gas methane as the world is running out of time and with all respect for the summit deadline، the time the world is running out of is the time for the planet،" said Wopke Hoekstra، the EU's chief negotiator at COP28.

Pledges to lower global energy-related greenhouse gas emissions by 4 billion metric tonnes of carbon dioxide

The International Energy Agency (IEA) on Sunday said these pledges، if honoured، would lower global energy-related greenhouse gas emissions by 4 billion metric tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2030 and while the figure is substantial، it represents only about a third of the emissions gap that needs to be closed in the next six years to limit warming to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels، as agreed to in the 2015 Paris Agreement، the IEA said.

Fatih Birol IEA Executive Director، said in a post on X، formerly known as Twitter، that an orderly & just decline of global fossil fuel use is needed to keep 1.5C in reach، while United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres، urged leaders at COP28 to agree on deep cuts to emissions to stop global warming exceeding 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) but despite pledges، emissions are at a record high and fossil fuels are the major cause.