In order to achieve the climate goals, CO2 emissions must be reduced. But the UN climate chief warns: Instead of the needed high-speed climate train, an old slow train is chugging along shaky tracks.
UN climate chief Simon Stiell used clear words to encourage the almost 200 countries to be more ambitious at the UN climate conference in Dubai. “Let’s be honest: Good intentions alone won’t halve emissions this decade, nor will they save lives here and now,” he said.
The current draft for the final document, known in UN jargon as a global inventory, is a “grab bag of wish lists,” he complained. “The negotiating parties must now sort this out – and then herald the end of the fossil era as we know it with a clear statement.”
This means formally deciding on the gradual phase-out of coal, oil and gas. A good 100 states now support this at the conference, but there is resistance. According to information from environmental associations, the oil state Saudi Arabia and India, which relies heavily on coal, are among those opposing an obligation to phase out fossil fuels.
Stiell: “The tools are all on the table”
The head of the UN Climate Change Secretariat (UNFCCC) also said that the teams needed clear marching orders: it was about the highest ambitions, not the lowest common denominators. “At the end of next week, COP28 has to deliver a high-speed train to accelerate climate protection. But we currently have an old slow train chugging along shaky tracks. But: the tools are all on the table, the technologies and solutions are there.”
EU Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra also said there was still a lot to do at the UN meeting, which is due to end on Tuesday. The world must reach its peak in climate-damaging emissions by 2025 at the latest and reduce emissions by 43 percent by 2030. “The sticking point, which we are all talking about, of course, is the phase-out of fossil fuels,” he said. He wanted to make it clear once again what the European Union stands for: “I want this COP to mark the beginning of the end for fossil fuels.”
Just on Tuesday, the report on the global carbon budget showed that CO2 emissions are continuing to rise. They are expected to reach a record level of 36.8 billion tons in 2023. That is 1.1 percent more than in 2022 and 1.4 percent more than in the pre-Corona year 2019.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
