Today, on December 5th, the most important issue will finally reach the table.
After introductory discussions on key climate issues for several days, climate negotiators are finally turning their attention to the challenging task of addressing the primary cause of global warming: fossil fuels. During the United Arab Emirates-hosted conference, which designated a day for “energy transition,” top officials from two oil companies took the stage despite repeated calls from scientists, activists, and UN officials to phase out the use of coal, oil, and natural gas. However, in the wake of the Ukrainian – Russian war, “phasing out” has started to… phase out in favor of “phasing down”.
Negotiators presented a new draft of the anticipated core document of the U.N. talks, known as the Global Stocktake. However, the 24-page draft offered numerous possibilities without clearly indicating the eventual agreement expected by the session’s end next week. Consensus is crucial for adoption, requiring near-unanimous support. Bill Hare, CEO of Climate Analytics, emphasized to Associated Press that the central issue of the conference is reaching a conclusion on the phasing out of fossil fuels. Without such action, he expressed doubt about achieving temperature improvements.
