Time is running out on opportunities
to limit global warming to a maximum of two or preferably
one-and-a-half degrees Celsius, as the world leaders agreed to
in Paris eight years ago. The COP28 climate negotiations are
taking place at a geopolitically sensitive time, as Russia's
invasion of Ukraine is still ongoing and Israel is at war with
Hamas, among other tensions.
The new European Commissioner for Climate Action, Wopke
Hoekstra, hopes that the United Nations COP28 climate summit in
Dubai will serve to give global impetus to the fight against
global warming. "Scientists tell us that much, much more
ambition is needed and the window of opportunity is actually
closing," he stressed in an interview with the European
Newsroom.
In Dubai, the EU wants to get major CO2 emitters such as China
to do more to combat climate change. In return, the EU is
willing to help pay for climate damage in poorer parts of the
world, for instance.
In order to reach a compromise final accord at the COP28 climate
conference which starts in Dubai next week, "we do have an
uphill climb that we face, because the ambition simply is very
high", said Hoekstra.
He also said that recent trips to China, the Middle East, Latin
America and Africa had shown him the difficulties to overcome.
He heard the different countries' formal and informal positions
and parsed them to look for a possible "landing zone".
"In each of these domains - renewables, energy efficiency,
methane, carbon markets, phasing out fossil (fuels) -, you know,
I'm always looking for cues, tabling proposals, listening to
opinions, trying to reformulate certain positions" in order to
narrow differences, he said.
Loss and Damage fund: 'Economic power comes with responsibility'
The EU's climate commissioner made it clear that he believed
China, now boasting the second-biggest economy in the world,
should be a contributor, not a beneficiary of the loss and
damage fund. "China made tremendous progress. It is the second
economy in the world. It has roughly the same number of electric
vehicles as the European Union. (…) With all that affluence and
with all that economic power also comes responsibility," he
said.He added that this "is the case for China. It is also for
others. Whoever has the ability to pay, should pay". The "loss
and damage [fund] should really be there for those most in
need", concluded Hoekstra.
The commissioner said the fund should pay out to "only a limited
number of countries, rather than for whoever experiences climate
disasters". For example, small islands and African states who
are not responsible "for any part of climate change" and who are
"on the receiving end of droughts, flooding and heavy rains"
should benefit. He noted that the fund "is not to compensate
(for) loss and damage" as such, only to ensure that a country
hit by a climate calamity "has the ability to continue" to
function.
Some countries going to COP28 are even "a bit iffy on whether it
should be called 'loss and damage'" because of that, though he
called such questioning secondary. "It's just important that we
explain what the criteria are for eligibility and what (…) the
fund is meant for," he said.
The loss and damage fund, agreed upon at the last COP, is meant
to deliver 100 billion US dollars in aid each year for
vulnerable countries to draw on. Developing countries expect
rich industrialised countries in particular to give money. And
some are hoping for annual sums worth hundreds of billions.
While substantial, the promised money is a fraction of the two
trillion US dollars the UN estimates will be needed annually by
2030 to fund efforts to adapt to climate change and related aid
for developing countries.
Climate Fight 'can only succeed with broad consensus'
The EU is only responsible for seven percent of global emissions
and the climate fight "can only succeed with a broad consensus"
with countries, large corporations and citizens, said Hoekstra.
In a month and a half, the former Dutch foreign minister has
travelled to 13 countries besides Belgium, among them Brazil,
Chile, Spain and Saudi Arabia, and has held 55 meetings with
ministers, special envoys, negotiators and leaders of
international organisations.
"We need to do much more also in the decade ahead of us making
sure that we build bridges to the rest of the world," said
Hoekstra. The Dutchman has a negotiating mandate under his arm,
validated by all 27 EU countries, which includes calls for a
tripling of installed renewable energy capacity by 2030, a
doubling of the energy efficiency rate and a cap on hydrocarbon
subsidies.
It also aims to convince the rest of the world, including
oil-producing countries, that it is necessary to move away from
fossil fuels in general and "coal in particular", he said.
"Coal, amongst fossil fuels, is the one creating the most
damage."
Looking at the "various positions and the various interests
countries have" it is already complicated "already in a more
normal circumstance". Looking at the last years during which
"things have only become infinitely more difficult because of
(…) geopolitics" it would be difficult to meet the target. At
the same time, there is no choice but to reach an agreement,
Hoekstra says. The planet itself is drawing "red lines", he
argues. The high ambitions are dictated by science, Hoekstra
stresses. "And we're unfortunately not nearly there yet."
(The content of this article is based on news by agencies
participating in the enr)
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