how OPEC seeks to thwart any agreement targeting fossil fuels – L’Express

In a letter dated Wednesday revealed by Reutersconsulted by AFP and authenticated by a recipient member country, the Secretary General of OPEC, the Kuwaiti Haitham al-Ghais, “presses” his members and their delegations to COP 28 to “proactively reject any text or any formulation which targets energy, i.e. fossil fuels, rather than greenhouse gas emissions.

The letter is addressed to the 13 members of OPEC, including Iraq, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, which chairs this year’s United Nations climate conference, and Saudi Arabia, at the forefront of opposition away from fossil fuels. The mail is also sent to ten associated countries, such as Mexico, Azerbaijan, Russia and Malaysia, all present in Dubai.

Haitham al-Ghais warned all members that there would be increasing pressure to target fossil fuels. He calls these plans “politically motivated campaigns” against oil-rich countries, which put “the prosperity and future of our people at risk”, reports the New York Times. “It appears that the undue and disproportionate pressure against fossil fuels could reach a critical point with irreversible consequences,” warns the OPEC secretary general.

These comments made many states jump. “I think it’s a pretty disgusting thing for the OPEC countries to oppose putting the bar where it should be” on the climate, launched this Saturday, in front of journalists , the Spanish Minister for Ecological Transition Teresa Ribera, whose country holds the biannual presidency of the Council of the European Union.

The French Minister for Energy Transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, said she was “stunned” by these statements from OPEC and “angry”. From Dubai, the French minister recalled that “fossil fuels are responsible for more than 75% of CO2 emissions” and “that we must get out of them if we want to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees”. “OPEC’s position endangers the most vulnerable countries and the poorest populations who are the first victims of this situation,” she regretted.

Haitham al-Ghais’ intervention sparked a deluge of reactions in Dubai, where the future of fossil fuels, the main cause of global warming, is at the heart of the negotiations. A draft negotiating text made public Friday by COP 28 officials included five options for the final text, including a call for the gradual elimination of fossil fuels “aligned with the best available scientific knowledge” or even the absence of any mention of the future of oil, gas and coal.

Questioned by AFP, a negotiator from a country in favor of an exit from fossil fuels affirms that the Arab group at the UN is the only one to have such total opposition to the rejection of an agreement targeting fossil fuels. In Dubai, during the first week of negotiations, Saudi Arabia decided to block several proposals regarding the phase-out of fossil fuels, according to three diplomats involved in the negotiations interviewed by the New York Times.

Positions are stiffening as COP 28 enters its home stretch in order to bring negotiations to a successful conclusion by Tuesday. At the podium, the countries follow one another this Saturday without showing any notable evolution in their public positions. Emerging and developing countries are demanding compensation from rich countries to sign the abandonment of fossil fuels. The terms “equity” and “fair” are all the talk.

Behind the scenes, ministers are negotiating to find a formulation capable of combining a strong signal in favor of the exit from fossil fuels, and the recognition that developing countries must not sacrifice their economic development. Despite the differences, the Canadian Minister of the Environment, Steven Guilbeault, who plays a key role in the discussions, showed relative optimism, telling AFP that he was “fairly confident” in having a mention of fossil fuels in the final text.

The Chinese envoy on climate, Xie Zhenhua, for his part reported this Saturday in Dubai “progress” in the complex COP 28 negotiations on fossil fuels. “We have already made progress on this issue, and I believe we will have more progress very soon, in the coming days,” Xie Zhenhua told reporters. “Because if we do not succeed, if we do not resolve this subject, I see little chance that we will have a successful COP 28,” he added.

“The European Union will align itself with many others, a large majority of parties at this conference, to ensure that we obtain a significant and productive result on the exit from fossil fuels, the energy transition, while ensuring the “access to energy for all”, declared Teresa Ribera.

The OPEC letter is in any case important because, according to UN rules, any agreement reached at the climate summit must be approved unanimously. Any of the 198 participating nations can therefore cause an agreement to fail. Former US Vice President Al Gore, however, is pushing for UN rules to be changed so that agreements require the approval of a so-called qualified majority of 75% of countries.

The pressure is therefore increasing on the diplomats gathered in Dubai to act. With 2023 set to be the hottest year measured in recorded history, scientists’ warnings are becoming increasingly urgent.

If nations agreed in Dubai to phase out fossil fuels, or even phase them down, it would be a historic moment. THE New York Times recalls that previous UN climate agreements had hesitated to mention the words “fossil fuels”.

During COP 26 in Glasgow, in 2021, when the negotiators tried to insert the mention of a “gradual elimination” of coal into the final agreement, China and India opposed it. They had opted for a “gradual reduction” of coal-fired power plants which do not have the necessary technology to capture their emissions… But no timetable had been established.