COP28 chief says fossil fuels have role to play

COP28 chief says fossil fuels have role to play
by AFP Staff Writers
Berlin (AFP) May 3, 2023

Fossil fuels would continue to answer the demand for energy for the "foreseeable future", the president of the upcoming UN climate talks said Wednesday, doubling down on keeping them in the power mix.

"We know that fossil fuels will continue to play a role in the foreseeable future in helping meet global energy requirements," Sultan Al Jaber said at a press conference during the Petersberg Climate Dialogue, a meeting of climate diplomats in Berlin.

Al Jaber, who runs an oil company and who will lead the COP28 talks in the United Arab Emirates later this year, repeated a call he made Tuesday to focus on removing the emissions from fossil fuels instead of ending their use completely.

"Our aim should be focused on ensuring that we phase out emissions from all sectors whether it's oil and gas or high-emitting industries," he said.

The target would be achieved by "building on and capitalising on existing and new and emerging technologies", he said, in a seeming allusion to costly and emerging technology to capture and store carbon pollution.

Al Jaber on Tuesday urged participants in the climate conference to triple renewable energy production capacity by 2030, echoing a call made by the International Energy Agency.

The choice of Al Jaber, chief executive of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), to head the climate conference in Dubai has angered activists who fear it will hold back progress on reducing emissions.

Al Jaber is also the UAE's minister for industry and advanced technology and founded the government-owned renewable energy company Masdar.

The UAE, one of the world's biggest oil producers, argues that crude remains indispensable to the global economy and is needed to finance the energy transition.

The Gulf monarchy is pushing the merits of carbon capture -- removing carbon dioxide as fuel is burned, or from the air.

COP28 chair urges tripling of renewables capacity by 2030
Berlin (AFP) May 2, 2023 - The president of upcoming UN climate talks Sultan Al Jaber on Tuesday called on participants to drastically ramp up their use of renewable energy ahead of the key summit in the United Arab Emirates later this year.

The meeting in November needs "ambitious, transparent and accountable commitments from countries and businesses", Al Jaber said in a speech at the opening of the Petersberg Climate Dialogue, a meeting of climate diplomats in Berlin.

"We will accelerate delivery in sectors like renewables that must triple capacity by 2030 and double it again by 2040," he added.

The summit chief's call echoes a key target laid out by the International Energy Agency.

Al Jaber had already raised the potential target at a closed-door meeting with G7 leaders in Japan last month.

While setting out a goal for faster renewables expansion, Al Jaber, who is also the chief executive of the UAE's state oil company, did not call for a complete end to the use of fossil fuels.

Rather, the future COP28 chair said the focus must be on removing the emissions such fuels produce.

"We must be laser focused on phasing out fossil fuel emissions, while phasing up viable, affordable zero-carbon alternatives," said Al Jaber.

Climate activists have criticised the decision to hold COP28 in the oil-rich UAE and the choice as COP president of Al Jaber, who also serves as the Gulf state's minister of industry and advanced technology.

- Climate fund -

Al Jaber also used his speech to call on developed countries to deliver a long promised $100-billion climate package for developing countries.

"This is holding up progress. And as part of my outreach, I am requesting donor countries to provide a definitive assessment on the delivery of this commitment before COP28," Al Jaber said.

In 2009, the chaotic UN climate summit in Copenhagen saw rich nations promise $100 billion a year by 2020 to the Global South, but last year the OECD said the amount delivered was still $17 billion short.

At the same time, the funding needed for developing countries to stop burning planet-heating fossil fuels and prepare for future climate disasters has already far outstripped that sum.

Campaigners are pushing for a redesign of the global financial architecture to help countries cope, as many emerging nations grapple with rising costs, soaring debts and extreme weather events.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, who is hosting the Petersberg dialogue, however, reported that the pledged sum may finally be close.

"The good news is we are on the way to finally reaching this $100-billion sum this year," she said.

- Protest group -

Earlier this year, the UN's climate expert panel said the world risks crossing the key 1.5-degree Celsius global warming limit in about a decade, urging a drastic reduction in planet-heating emissions.

While solar and wind power are already increasing dramatically, the UN report said that existing fossil fuel infrastructure will be enough to push the world beyond 1.5C, without the effective use of costly and emerging technology to capture and store the carbon pollution.

The meeting in Berlin came as the German capital was roiled by days of climate protests, with the action continuing Tuesday.

Campaigners from the Last Generation group have caused widespread disruption in the city by sticking themselves to the road surface to stop traffic and agitate for more climate protection.

Among other measures, Last Generation has called for the government to provide a "detailed plan" to meet the goal of a 1.5C-limit and introduce a general speed limit.

Representatives from the group met Germany's Transport Minister Volker Wissing on Tuesday.

Wissing said on radio Deutschlandfunk that he was surprised the activists "make so few sensible suggestions for climate protection and at the same time act so radically".