Countries participating in the COP28 climate conference are considering calling for a formal phase-out of fossil fuels as part of the final agreement for UN summit to combat global warming, shows a draft of the negotiating text seen this Tuesday. The proposal is sure to provoke a heated debate among the nearly 200 countries participating in the two-week conference in Dubai, with Western governments pushing for the language to be included while oil and gas producers are eager to leave it out. Research published on Tuesday showed that global carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of fossil fuels are expected to reach an all-time high this year, fueling concerns among scientists that efforts to combat climate change are not enough to prevent the its worst impacts. The draft of what could be the final COP28 agreement, released by the UN climate body on Tuesday, proposed “an orderly and fair phase-out of fossil fuels” which, if adopted, would mark the first global agreement to end the era of Petroleum. On the main stage at COP28, the CEOs of several major energy companies championed oil and gas, highlighting their progress in areas such as reducing the greenhouse gas methane. “We are big and we can do great things. We can deliver results and we will have to report them very soon”, said Jean Paul Prates, CEO of Petrobras. “The energy transition will only be valid if it is a fair transition,” he added. TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanne said a transition away from oil and gas would take a long time “so we absolutely need to produce oil and gas in a different way, reducing emissions. And we can do it, we have the technology.” . “Of course it comes at a cost,” he said, “but it’s part of our license to operate, I would say, for the future.” At least 2,400 fossil fuel “lobbyists” have signed up for this year’s summit, an analysis of UN registration data published by Kick Big Polluters Out showed. The lobbyists outnumbered the 1,609 delegates from the 10 most climate-vulnerable countries combined, said the international coalition of climate activist groups. Climate activists organized several small protests against the presence of the fossil fuel industry on the sprawling conference grounds. The Marshall Islands, meanwhile, has presented a national plan to adapt to rising sea levels, an acknowledgment that the impacts of warming are already reaching its shores. (Reuters) Source: Carta de Moçambique
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