The latest Global Stockstake text was expected this morning and it finally arrived at 5:30 pm in Dubaï. Without any surprise for the civil society.
By Houmi Ahamed-Mikidache
Questions remain
“The Dubaï Climate Change Conference ends with a predictably failed crescendo, and once again, the UNFCCC multilateral process has proved a mirage for millions of vulnerable people in Africa and world over, whose aspirations, desires and expectations have been dashed”, concludes at a press conference a few hours before the publication of the text, the Pan-African Alliance for Climate Justice. In the plenary, after 6pm, the COP 28 presidency, Sultan Al Jaber do not think so. “It is a huge step forward”, he highlights. 24 hours before the end of the negotiations, questions remain on the final outcome of the UN climate talks.
Unlike the previous text, this document does not mention phase down or phase out of fossil fuels. The word fossil is used 3 times unveil observers. For David Waskow, Director of International Climate Action, World Resources Institute (WRI), a non profit research organization, “this text does not give a clear signal to face the climate crisis and there are number of actions that are needed, but it is absolutely disappointing to see this lack of action, ” .
” We’re concerned that the process at this time,is not in the spirit of multilateralism as Small Islands Developing States we feel our voices are not being heard,” complains during a press conference, Cedric Schuster, Minister for Environment and Natural Resources from Samoa, and also chair of Alliance of Small Island States.
The director of the NGO Climate Action Network international Canada Caroline Bouillette explains earlier this morning at a press conference the willingness of some developed countries to move away from fossil fuels, and denounces the silence of Canada and the United States of America. France reiterates its call for phasing out from Fossil fuels on X but also during a press conference earlier in the afternoon. Although France is vocal for the exit of fossil fuels, some observers regret its position regarding the carbon market, , nuclear energy and its lack of transparency, particularly regarding the presence of the head of Total Energies in its delegation..
On X , Al Gore, former vice president of the United States did not mince words after reading the text this afternoon. “OPEC dictated word for word” in reference to the letter sent by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries( OPEC) secretary general to its members, with Saudi Arabia at the forefront. Officially Saudi Arabia is against the phasing out of fossil fuels.
Observers found the text with inconsistency , with a series of untitled elements. For the group of small islands developing states, finance and mitigation should be taken in one hand and integrating the importance to reach 1.5. degrees is vital. ” If we do not have strong mitigation outcomes at this COP, then this will be the COP where 1.5 would’ve died. We will not sign our death certificates,” warns Cedric Schuster, minister of environment and Natural resources of Samoa. And he pursues: “this is why in every room our negotiators have been pushing tirelessly for decisions that align with staying under 1.5 degrees.” Nigerian activist Nnimmo Bassey is less optimistic. COP 28 is seen as a big win to the polluters. “
For Andreas Sieber, Associate Director of Policy and Campaigns, 350.org , ” the COP28 draft text has notably weakened commitments to phasing out fossil fuels and promoting renewables energy : Nations committed to climate action must reject this weakened proposal, insisting on transformative changes for a meaningful impact on global warming.”
Fadhel Kaboub, special advisor of Power Shift Africa, said Climate finance should be one of the key outcomes of COP 28 and it is not . ” Climate finance requires a minimum of $2.4 trillion of transformative grant-based investment and transfer of technology for climate adaptation and mitigation by 2030. We are nowhere near that target at the end of COP28″, he regrets. The Global Stockstake latest text does not reflect the needs and does not include the clear timeline for financing climate action, conclude observers.
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Observers maintains the pressure in the night. They have formed a human chain to call ministers and negotiators “for a fast, fair, forever, full and funded phaseout of fossil fuels”.
In the evening, Susan Muhamad, the Colombian Environment Minister, who has been speaking since the beginning of the ministerial negotiations for a reform of the financial architecture and for the exit of fossil fuels, introduces her strategy on X and announces several actions, including the one related to the assessment of debt exchange against climate action, an assessment carried out jointly with Kenya and France.
