Still no white smoke in Dubai. The presidency of COP28 announced in a press release on Tuesday, December 12, that discussions would continue at least until midnight, Paris time. COP28 Director-General Majid al-Suwaidi said earlier today that the Emirati presidency of the climate conference was working on a new draft agreement, based on the “red lines” expressed on Monday by the countries which rejected his first proposal. “The goal is to reach consensus”did he declare.
On the last scheduled day of this summit, countries in favor of phasing out fossil fuels, including those in the European Union, are trying to obtain the maximum against the bloc led by Saudi Arabia, in the final agreement negotiated by the United Arab Emirates. “We would all like to finish on time, but we all want to achieve the most ambitious result possible. That is our only goal”. This live is now over.
Timeout. The 28th UN conference will not end at the time set by its Emirati president, Sultan al-Jaber. He announced on December 6 that he wanted “an orderly conclusion of the conference on Tuesday, December 12 at 11 a.m. [8 heures, heure de Paris]“significant day the anniversary of the adoption of the Paris Agreement, in which countries around the world agreed to limit global warming to +1.5°C, or even +2°C.
The previous text deemed insufficient. The text submitted on Monday called in particular for “reduction of both consumption and production of fossil fuels”but did not mention the word of “exit” fossil fuels, which is at the heart of the negotiations in Dubai. Several countries and organizations are campaigning for more ambitious formulation. “There is a large, very large group of countries, even a super-majority, who want more ambition”, with a historic text clearly calling for an exit from oil, gas and coal, said European Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra on Tuesday. US special climate envoy John Kerry said “Work hard” For “result in a different text”.
British Secretary of State criticized. The British Secretary of State for Climate, Graham Stuart, left COP28 to vote on the Rishi Sunak government’s bill aimed at deporting illegal immigrants to Rwanda. “This is a scandalous dereliction of leadership at the most critical point of this conference”Greenpeace United Kingdom was outraged, in unison with other NGOs.