The Independent's Climate Newsletter
Tuesday, December 12, 2023 | |
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People at Cop28 in Dubai on December 12, 2023 - the summit's official end date. The event now joins a long list of Cops that have failed to finish on time (Photo by Giuseppe CACACE / AFP) |
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| Welcome to a special newsletter from The Independent, bringing you the latest from Cop28 in Dubai. You are receiving this email because you are signed up to our Climate newsletter.
More than 24 hours after the draft text of the Cop28 "Global Stocktake" agreement was released to widespread anger and upset, there was little news emerging from the negotiating tables.
The Dubai summit had officially gone into extra time at 11am on Tuesday as countries appeared deadlocked over the future of fossil fuels, the root cause of the climate crisis, at the core of this summit.
Monday's text had deleted options to "phase out" or "phase down" fossil fuels which were in earlier drafts, provoking furious and heart-wrenching responses.
"We did not come here to sign our death warrant. We came here to fight for 1.5C and for the only way to achieve that: a fossil fuel phase-out … We will not go silently to our watery graves," said John M. Silk, the Marshall Islands minister of natural resources and commerce.
The EU called the draft "unacceptable" and warned that the bloc could walk away from discussions. The US said that the wording of the draft text, including about fossil fuels, needed to be "substantially strengthened" and a number of other nations, the UK among them, called the text "disappointing".
Late on Tuesday evening, still no new document had been released, and it appeared that some unresolved issues were causing gridlock on others.
Multiple negotiators toldThe Independent that progress on adaptation funding was stuck because rich countries were not paying what they have pledged to help poorer and vulnerable countries cope with extreme impacts. It appears unlikely that the issue will move forward until Wednesday morning.
This appeared to be what was holding up a separate decision on fossil fuels, which has become the core battle of this climate summit.
African countries have said they will not discuss the future of coal, oil and gas unless adaptation finance targets and rules around this money will be delivered are nailed down.
"We will not agree on anything here unless Africa's top priorities are met," said Collins Nzovu, Zambia's environment minister, referring to adaptation funding.
Sources close to India's delegation also told The Independent that they require precise language on the role that rich countries have played in the climate crisis before supporting fossil fuel phase-out.
With negotiations overrunning, more practical elements were coming into play. Ministers and their delegations were scheduled to leave in the next day or two. Negotiators are also exhausted after two weeks of fraught debates with talks running into the early hours of Tuesday morning and picking back up again before 9am.
Rumours were rife as to when the talks would finally wrap up but there is another deadline to bear in mind.
From Friday Dubai Expo City, Cop28's location, will be transformed into Winter City - where families can "join Santa's team on a quest to become eco-heroes and save the North Pole".
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Please do not shut down this COP before we get the job done. |
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