(Dubai) Canadian Minister of the Environment Steven Guilbeault, who plays a key role in the discussions at COP28, said on Saturday he was “fairly confident” in having a mention of fossil fuels in the final text, in an interview with AFP.
“I am quite confident, yes,” replied Mr. Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, when asked in Dubai about the possibility of seeing this crucial question in the text which must be adopted by Tuesday.
Steven Guilbeault is one of the facilitating ministers appointed by the Emirati presidency of COP28 to unblock the negotiations. He thus forms a duo with Egyptian Minister Yasmine Fouad to discuss “means of implementation” – a term which actually covers the much-debated question of phasing out fossil fuels.
“This is a conversation that will last for a few more days. Different groups talk to each other, discuss, try to understand what we could agree on but it is still quite embryonic as a discussion,” said Steven Guilbeault in reference to the question of fossils.
The secretary general of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) this week “urgently” asked its member countries to “proactively reject” any agreement targeting fossil fuels, in a letter consulted on Friday by AFP.
Steven Guilbeault indicated that he had not had the opportunity to read this text. But “honestly, no matter what the text says, we are moving towards a reduction in dependence on fossil fuels,” he judges.
“As countries across the planet electrify their transport, their electricity networks, their industries, dependence on fossil fuels will decrease,” underlines the minister.