Climate talks resume amid credibility crisis for Emirati COP28 presidency

It is a technical session, which is held every year in Bonn, Germany, to prepare for the 28^e world climate conference. A meeting from which no political decision is expected, since neither the heads of state nor the ministers are making the trip. But this year, the intermediate climate negotiations, from June 5 to 15, in the presence of representatives of nearly 200 States, should be particularly scrutinized. First, because they have to plow the ground for COP28, a crucial high mass which will take place in Dubai (United Arab Emirates) in December. Then, because they open in a context of strong tensions and extreme distrust of the president of the conference, Sultan Ahmed Al-Jaber, Emirati Minister of Industry and CEO of the national oil company Abu Dhabi National Oil Company.

Never has the president of an oil group – or even that of a company – exercised the responsibility of conducting climate negotiations. A double hat that raises questions, while global warming is mainly caused by the combustion of fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas). In an unprecedented way, more than 130 European parliamentarians and members of the American Congress called for his resignation and “limit influence” of the fossil industry in the climatic cenacles, in a letter published on May 23. Nearly 2,000 NGOs had already made a similar request. “The credibility of the presidency and more broadly of the COP is called into question with such a conflict of interest”warns Gaïa Febvre, head of international policies at the Climate Action Network.

The pill is all the more difficult to swallow as, in a world faced with the multiplication of climatic catastrophes, the question of phasing out fossil fuels has become central and should dominate the debates in Bonn as well as those at COP28. Last year, at COP27 in Egypt, countries failed to commit to this path. Several dozen states are still pushing for this objective, in particular the Europeans or the small islands, but the oil-producing countries oppose it.

“Two weeks to save COP28”

In early May, Sultan Al-Jaber raised concerns among observers, defending a goal of“elimination of fossil fuel emissions” and not fuels directly. A subtlety of language that leaves the door open to the continuation of their use provided they are backed by CO capture and storage technologies₂ – costly solutions, the large-scale deployment of which remains very uncertain.

You have 67.17% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.