There are already signs that big disagreements might cause problems at the UN’s important COP28 climate summit.
Over 70 environment ministers and over 100 national groups have been gathering in Abu Dhabi before discussions start in Dubai on November 30.
Many people are unsure if a summit hosted by a country that heavily relies on oil like the United Arab Emirates can lead the world towards a future with less carbon emissions.
This year is expected to be the hottest ever recorded worldwide.
The leader of the COP28 conference, Sultan Al Jaber, recognized the difficult problems he has to deal with.
He encouraged everyone to work together, agree on things, and solve any disagreements.
However, Mr Al Jaber is a person who creates a lot of disagreement and conflict among people.
He is also the leader of Adnoc, which is the state oil company of UAE and one of the biggest producers of oil in the world.
According to OPEC, Adnoc produced around 2. 7 million barrels of oil per day in 2021.
Greta Thunberg said that his appointment was very silly and made her doubt the whole UN climate process.
She said at a recent rally in London that the COP conferences are not meant to cause a significant decrease in CO2 emissions. “If they were different, they wouldn’t choose an oil company leader to be the president. ”
Mr Al Jaber has a very different opinion, which is not surprising.
He believes that we can only address climate change by including oil and gas in the conversation. He says that his experience in the industry makes him the best person to advocate for taking action.
Mr Al Jaber wanted to make it very clear in Abu Dhabi this week that he has big goals for the main discussions, and he made an effort to eliminate any uncertainties or concerns about it.
He said again that the main goal would be to keep the world on course to limit the increase in temperature to 1. 5 degrees Celsius above levels before industries started. Scientists say that if we do this, it will help us avoid the worst effects of climate change.
And Mr Al Jaber agreed that in order to achieve that, it will be necessary to significantly reduce emissions.
“He said we must find effective ways to reduce emissions by 43% by 2030, as supported by scientific evidence. ”
However, many people in the audience did not believe in Mr. Al Jaber’s commitment, especially because his oil company has ambitious plans to grow during the same time.
The company wants to increase how much oil it can produce each day by 600,000 barrels by the year 2030. They are also spending $150 billion to make this happen.
Mr Al Jaber said that despite emissions reducing, the world will still require some oil and gas. The IPCC has also recognized this.
He suggests that when it comes to choosing oil and gas, the UAE’s products should be considered first, as they have very low carbon emissions during production. However, when burned, they still release the same amount of CO2 as other fuels.
Arguments like this help to explain why countries like the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Russia, and the US believe it is better to reduce fossil fuel production gradually instead of stopping it completely. This is because the carbon dioxide (CO2) they produce is a major cause of greenhouse gas emissions.
The European Union is a member of a group of around 80 countries that have a stricter approach. Some people believe we can’t make any compromises when it comes to eliminating fossil fuels.
Wopke Hoestra, EU Commissioner for Climate Action, wants to quickly stop using fossil fuels and use words that represent this goal well.
Mr Al Jaber acknowledges that it will be difficult to find agreement between countries with different opinions on this important matter. He encourages the delegates in Abu Dhabi to try their hardest to find shared ideas or solutions.
But there is also a deadlock on other problems.
A major accomplishment of the recent UN climate conference was reaching a global agreement to create a fund called “loss and damage. ” This fund will assist poorer countries in paying for the negative impacts caused by climate change.
But initial discussions about how to create the fund and who might be in charge of it have already failed and there are concerns that major polluting countries like the US might not participate in the discussions at all.
Mr Al Jaber is working very hard to restart the negotiations, and recently he said that the UAE will hold another meeting for the committee in charge.
It may be difficult to reach an agreement at COP28, even when there is a general agreement on certain issues.
One of the UAE’s main goals for COP28 is to increase the amount of renewable energy available worldwide to three times the current capacity, reaching 11,000GW by 2030.
Most big countries already agree with that aim.
The G20, which is made up of countries like China, the United States, and India, that have strong economies, agreed to greatly increase the use of renewable energy sources at a meeting in September.
But, some European countries and states that are affected by climate change have stated that they will only agree to use clean energy if there is also an agreement to gradually stop using fossil fuels.
These significant disagreements on fundamental matters indicate that making progress during the COP28 conference starting on November 30 will be very challenging.
This is very different from how people felt when they signed the Paris Agreement eight years ago. It shows that the talks have changed a lot.
The aim of the Paris agreement was to convince countries that they should join forces to combat climate change.
Now these talks are focused on making countries actually do something – which is more difficult to achieve.
The meeting in Abu Dhabi this week showed that when the main talks start, they will mostly be influenced by international competitions, local politics, and disagreements over money, rather than a genuine concern for saving the planet from global warming.