BERLIN – Dr Sultan Al Jaber, the United Arab Emirates official tapped to lead United Nations climate change talks, said “the phase-down of fossil fuels is inevitable”, marking his strongest statement yet on the future of coal, oil and gas in a warming world.
Yet Dr Al Jaber, who also heads the state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc), did not suggest a timeframe for phasing down fossil fuels.
Instead, he used a speech to top climate negotiators in Bonn, Germany, on Thursday to reiterate his call for the COP28 summit in November to propel other efforts, specifically trebling renewable energy, doubling energy efficiency and doubling “clean hydrogen” by 2030.
The speed of the fossil fuel phase-down “depends on how quickly we can phase up zero-carbon alternatives while ensuring energy security, accessibility and affordability”, Dr Al Jaber said, according to prepared remarks.
Mr Alden Meyer, senior associate at climate think-tank E3G, said the acknowledgement of the need to phase down fossil fuels was a useful first step, but Dr Al Jaber needed to recognise the pace at which that needs to happen.
“He needs to commit to reaching agreement at COP28 on a plan for how to deliver those emissions reductions,” Mr Meyer told Reuters.
In November, Abu Dhabi’s Adnoc endorsed plans to bring forward the company’s five million barrel per day oil production capacity expansion to 2027 from a previous target of 2030, to meet rising global energy demand.
More than 100 members of the United States Congress and the European Parliament last month urged US President Joe Biden and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen to pressure the UAE government to oust Dr Al Jaber from the COP job, saying his dual position could undermine negotiations.
COP28 director-general Majid Al Suwaidi on Tuesday dismissed criticism of his boss, saying having a chief executive head COP for the first time in the climate summits’ history and moving away from having a purely political process would help deliver results from the December meeting.
A major piece of unfinished business from the COP27 negotiations in Egypt in 2022 was a push for countries to pledge to phase down all fossil fuels – not just unabated coal, a commitment already enshrined in the 2021 Glasgow pact.
Dr Al Jaber has previously emphasised the need to focus on phasing out “fossil fuel emissions”.
At a reception hosted by the UAE in Bonn on Thursday, Dr Al Jaber vowed to “be laser-focused on concrete and ambitious solutions that will allow us to bridge the gaps by 2030”, noting there are just seven years to achieve 43 per cent emission cuts needed to keep global temperature targets within reach.
“We need to shift from incremental steps to transformational progress that delivers for everyone, everywhere,” he told the crowd, which consisted of the heads of countries’ negotiating delegations.
He also pushed for more progress at the UN climate conference in Bonn, which is seen as a midway check for how ambitious international climate talks will take shape at COP28 in December.
The conference had started on Monday with no agreement on a final agenda, clouding optimism that the 10-day meeting would result in a clear programme for Dubai. “As we have learnt from past experience, the more progress we make in Bonn, the higher the likelihood of success in December,” Dr Al Jaber said. BLOOMBERG, REUTERS
