by DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) – Negotiators have been urged to narrow down their options and agree on how to save the Earth from catastrophic levels of warming as the clock ticks down on United Nations climate talks and the summit’s president remains determined to complete the talks. by Tuesday.
“Now is the time to shift gears and reach a consensus,” COP28 President Sultan al-Jaber said at a plenary session late on Saturday.
There were some signs that negotiators were moving forward on Sunday: A new draft agreement was released on global adaptation goals – which will determine how poor countries will cope with weather extremes made worse by climate change from drought to floods to more intense storms -.
The draft text expresses concern about the gap between the money needed for adaptation and the amount of money countries are receiving, but does not say exactly how much money is needed to adapt the world to climate change .
One option in the draft proposes an assessment of each country’s vulnerability to climate change by 2025 and the establishment of early warning systems for extreme weather events by 2027. Another option is for countries to come up with national adaptation plans and implement them by 2030.
The new draft “presents a skeleton of what could be a reasonable framework for the Global Adaptation Goal,” said Ana Mulio Alvarez of climate think tank E3G. But to be effective, and adapt to climate change “developed countries need to provide support to developing countries for their implementation.”
Thibyan Ibrahim from the Small Island Developing States negotiating bloc, called the progress on adaptation “a bit disappointing, because we were not able to get strong results.”
Draft texts on the Global Stocktaking — the part of the negotiations that assesses what the world is doing to limit warming and how countries can stick to climate goals — were still riddled with different language choices regarding how to phase out fossil fuels that heat the planet. .
Dan Jorgensen, Denmark’s environment minister and one half of a pair of ministers leading the global stocktaking, urged countries to “start focusing on key priorities and show flexibility so we can start to… eliminate options. “
Shantal Munro-Knight, climate negotiator for Barbados, said the motivation to get a strong deal among countries was high.
“I don’t think anyone wants to leave the COP without a really ambitious program, and that’s where I think everyone is. You haven’t heard too much negative pushback because we’re all in that moment,” Munro-Knight said.
But Marshall Islands Climate Delegate Tina Stege admitted that “there is a lot more work to be done. The Presidency has a lot on its plate and we don’t have much time.”
Sticking points for negotiators are common, with some countries wanting to see strong language on phasing out fossil fuel use while others are reluctant to have strong language on the issue because they continue to develop their oil, gas or coal industry. .
“It is very clear that there is a group of countries here that do not want to phase out fossil fuels,” said Jennifer Morgan, Germany’s climate delegate. other nations are “yet far apart.”
“It’s going to be very difficult,” Morgan said. “I’m a little worried.”
Rachel Cleetus from the Union of Concerned Scientists told journalists on Sunday that “Saudi Arabia and the OPEC countries are the big laggards, the obstinate ones, for sure,” the powerful oil cartel.
ActionAid USA’s Brandon Wu also criticized America’s plans to increase oil and gas production.
“I think it’s quite easy to point the finger at some of the Gulf states here,” Wu said. “But, you know, we shouldn’t ignore the fact that the United States has the single largest oil and gas expansion plans of any country in the world. It’s not even close.”
China’s climate delegate Xie Zhenhua called this year’s climate conference the “most difficult” of his long career. He said on Saturday that the controversial issue of phasing out fossil fuels could be resolved in a day or two.
Negotiators aim to find a way to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) from pre-industrial times, in line with what was agreed in the historic 2015 Paris accord. Some observers on Sunday were cautiously optimistic about progress so far.
“We are close to making history here,” said Kaisa Kosonen, Policy Coordinator at Greenpeace International. “I’ve never seen this level of pressure before, with people saying we shouldn’t do it. They are finally addressing the root cause of climate change.”
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This story has been corrected to show that the first published version of the text is not a new draft adaptation.
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Associated Press journalist Olivia Zhang and Gauav Saini of The Press Trust of India contributed.
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