Oil industry is ‘panicking’ and ‘scared’ as climate talks heat up and threaten to plug wells for good, experts say, after outrage over OPEC’s attempt to block declaration
- OPEC reportedly urged members to reject texts that target cutting fossil fuels
The oil industry is ‘panicking’ and ‘scared’ as United Nations climate talks threaten to plug wells for good, experts say, amid anger over an attempt to block a declaration to phase-out fossil fuels.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) sparked outrage among green-minded countries when it joined Saudi Arabia in railing against a declaration that would seek to wind down extraction of the oil, coal and gas.
In leaked letters, the group reportedly urged its members to reject any text at Cop28 that targets cutting fossil fuels at the source instead of emissions.
The letters have rocked the talks in Dubai, with host and petrostate the United Arab Emirates now trying to curb its impact in a process where one or two key nations can block any measure.
‘I think they’re panicking,’ Alden Meyer, an analyst from climate think tank E3G said. ‘Maybe the Saudis can’t do on their own what they’ve been doing for 30 years and block the process.’
OPEC reportedly urged its members to reject any text at Cop28 that targets cutting fossil fuels at the source instead of emissions. Pictured: File image of an oil field
The UAE House of Sustainability – part of the venue of the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai, UAE
Mary Robinson, the former Irish president who has been vocal about the need to rapidly phase-out fossil fuels, said: ‘They’re scared. I think they’re worried.’
Spanish ecology transition minister Teresa Ribera, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, said it was ‘quite a disgusting thing’ for OPEC countries to be ‘pushing against getting the bar where it has to be’.
French Energy Minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher responded saying the OPEC statement left her ‘stunned’ and ‘angry’.
She added that ‘OPEC’s position endangers the most vulnerable countries and the poorest populations who are the first victims of this situation’.
But China, the world’s largest oil importer, played down the row and said it was working to find a solution that was ‘acceptable to all parties’.
‘I think we’ve already had some progress on this issue and I believe we will have more progress in resolving this very soon in the coming few days,’ China’s climate negotiator Xie Zhenhua told reporters at the COP28 climate conference.
‘Because if we do not, if we do not resolve this issue, I don’t see much chance in having a successful COP28,’ he said.
Canadian climate minister Steven Guilbeault told AFP he was ‘confident’ that the final text would contain language on fossil fuels, which emit planet-heating greenhouse gases.
Guilbeault is among a group of ministers who have been tasked by COP28 president Sultan Al Jaber – who is CEO of the UAE state oil giant ANDOC – to shepherd the negotiations and find an agreement by Tuesday, when the summit is due to end.
Experts have said that the only was to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius is to wind down the production and consumption of fossil fuels. Pictured: Activists at Cop28
‘Different groups are talking and trying to understand on what we could agree but it’s still quite an embryonic conversation,’ he added.
Experts have said that the only was to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius is to dramatically increase the use of renewable energy while also winding down the production and consumption of fossil fuels.
‘1.5 is not negotiable, and that means an end to fossil fuels,’ said Tina Stege, climate envoy for the Marshall Islands, which chairs the High Ambition Coalition, a broad group of nations ranging from Barbados to France, Kenya and Pacific island states.
A person working for the summit president’s office played down the objections by Saudi Arabia, saying it was normal for nations to push hard at the end.
‘I don’t feel that we’re at that point where one is sticking their head above the parapet and being the troublemaker,’ the person said on condition of anonymity.
However, German climate envoy Jennifer Morgan said countries were ‘now moving into the critical stage of negotiations’ but she was ‘concerned that not all are constructively engaging’.
Toeolesulusulu Cedric Schuster, chairman of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), said the group was ‘extremely concerned’, considering the limited time left in Dubai.
AOSIS has pushed hard for a phase-out of fossil fuels, warning that rising seas threaten the island countries’ very existence.
‘I implore you, let this COP28 be the summit where we leaders are remembered for turning the tide,’ Schuster said.
He added that stepping up the use of renewable energy ‘cannot be a substitute for a stronger commitment to fossil fuel phase-out’.
Next year’s climate talks are likely to be held in another major producer of fossil fuels as Azerbaijan announced it had secured a consensus to host COP29.
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