Saudi Arabia says ‘absolutely not’ to oil phase down
DUBAI—Saudi Arabia’s energy minister has slammed the door shut to agreeing to phase down fossil fuels at the UN’s COP28 climate talks, setting the stage for difficult negotiations in Dubai.
The UN released the latest draft of a global climate agreement on Tuesday presenting all options on fossil fuels—from phasing them out to not discussing them at all.
The fate of oil, gas and coal is the thorniest issue being thrashed out at the COP28 UN climate talks in Dubai and divisions around their future have dominated the conference.
The second version of the negotiating text puts three options on the table, setting the stage for a grueling showdown as representatives from nearly 200 nations try to reach a final agreement.
The first proposes “an orderly and just phase out of fossil fuels”—the toughest stance and one seen as essential by low-lying island nations at threat from rising seas.
The second calls for faster efforts to phase out projects that lack the means to capture and store emissions, and to “rapidly” reduce fossil fuel use to achieve carbon neutrality in global energy production by 2050.
‘No text’ option
The third option contained in the 24-page draft is “no text” at all, a position supported by oil giant Saudi Arabia and China.
Delegates will be haggling over the terms during talks set to finish on Dec. 12.
Energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, a half-brother of de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, told Bloomberg that Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, would not agree to a phase out.
“Absolutely not,” he said in an interview in Riyadh.
“And I assure you not a single person—I’m talking about governments—believes in that.”
About 200 countries must come to a consensus decision at the meeting in Dubai, held at the end of the hottest year on record.
In an interview with AFP last week, United Nations secretary general Antonio Guterres called for a total phaseout of fossil fuels, warning “complete disaster” awaits mankind on its current trajectory.
Challenge
But Prince Abdulaziz said: “I would like to put that challenge for all of those who … comes out publicly saying we have to (phase down), I’ll give you their name and number, call them and ask them how they are gonna do that.
“If they believe that this is the highest moral ground issue, fantastic. Let them do that themselves. And we will see how much they can deliver.”
Separately, the Saudi royal also derided Western donations to a new climate loss and damage fund as “small change” and trumpeted Riyadh’s pledges to developing countries.
The fund for vulnerable nations—a major win at the start of COP28—has attracted about $655 million so far from donors including the European Union and the United States, a sum criticized as insufficient by campaigners.
“Unlike the small change offered for loss and damage from our partners in developed countries, the Kingdom … announced last month the allocation of up to $50 billion,” he said in a video message to Monday’s Saudi Green Initiative forum, held on the sidelines of COP28. —AFP
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