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Oil-rich nations are making a concerted effort to gradual progress on a landmark UN local weather settlement to finish the usage of fossil fuels, in accordance with western nations collaborating in world local weather change talks.
Negotiators from 5 western nations instructed the Monetary Instances that they had been making use of stress to Azerbaijan because the host nation for the upcoming UN COP29 summit to prioritise fossil gasoline phaseout discussions, in an try and counter a “pushback” from the petrostates and their allies.
At COP28 in Dubai final December, nearly 200 nations agreed to transition away from fossil fuels in vitality methods by 2050 and to triple renewable vitality capability and double vitality effectivity by 2030.
However the negotiators stated {that a} group of nations together with Saudi Arabia, Russia and Bolivia — which have traditionally proved a block to any world settlement to part out the usage of fossil fuels — had been but once more irritating progress.
Azerbaijan, which is closely reliant on oil and fuel exports economically, is seen as reluctant to champion an additional shift away from oil and fuel.
One negotiator from a significant western nation stated that “there’s clearly pushback by some nations” in discussions concerning the fossil fuels settlement.
“We’re having to be very clear with Azerbaijan that this COP received’t be a hit if we don’t additionally speak concerning the means of implementing mitigation, together with the COP28 resolution,” they stated.
An EU official stated the bloc had additionally made its considerations identified to Baku concerning the lack of progress on the COP28 settlement. “We confirmed [with Azerbaijan that] it’s essential we’re in a position to pursue work on the Dubai consensus and we are going to make sure that that is a part of the dialog.”
A negotiator from one other western nation added: “At this stage, it appears to be like extraordinarily bleak and there’s an actual danger that giant emitters throughout the G77 [group of developing nations] will use the tough finance negotiations to dam any significant progress on mitigation.”
At this yr’s COP29, to be held in November, nations are as a result of agree on a brand new world objective for climate finance, with nations clashing about how a lot this ought to be, who pays and its construction. On the weekend, African governments referred to as for greater than £1tn a yr in local weather finance.
Oil and pure fuel brings in about 90 per cent of Azerbaijan’s export revenues, and funds about 60 per cent of its funds, in accordance with Worldwide Vitality Company figures.
Earlier this month, Baku’s lead local weather negotiator Yalchin Rafiyev gave a seven-page speech about current talks between nations at a retreat in Azerbaijan however didn’t explicitly point out fossil fuels or renewable vitality.
Rafiyev stated it was “essential to emphasize the significance of mitigation”, the method of lowering or stopping the discharge of greenhouse gases into the ambiance versus lowering the burning of fossil fuels.
The absence of any particular point out of fossil fuels or renewable vitality within the speech “reveals a startling ignorance and an inexcusable failure of management from Azerbaijan”, stated Andreas Sieber, affiliate director of coverage and campaigns at 350.org, which is an observer group at COP.
The UAE COP28 presidency stated it “maintains a relentless concentrate on implementing” the Dubai settlement, formally referred to as the UAE Consensus, together with holding discussions on the vitality transition in Berlin earlier this yr. It stated it was “additionally working tirelessly with the G7 and G20”.
The Azeri COP29 presidency stated its management “has repeatedly burdened the significance of creating progress on mitigation, which incorporates, amongst different issues, the transition away from fossil fuels”.
It stated it was making “each effort to drive the events in direction of widespread floor and inclusive outcomes”.
Earlier this yr, Saudi Arabia’s vitality minister Abdulaziz bin Salman described the COP29 settlement as an “à la carte menu” of choices somewhat than being prescriptive.
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