Oil-rich nations launch ‘pushback’ against fossil fuel phaseout

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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 line with western nations collaborating in world local weather change talks. 

Negotiators from 5 western nations instructed the Monetary Occasions that they had been making use of strain to Azerbaijan because the host nation for the upcoming UN COP29 summit to prioritise fossil gas 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 programs by 2050 and to triple renewable vitality capability and double vitality effectivity by 2030.

However the negotiators mentioned {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 gasoline exports economically, is seen as reluctant to champion an extra shift away from oil and gasoline.

One negotiator from a serious western nation mentioned that “there’s clearly pushback by some nations” in discussions in regards to the fossil fuels settlement.

“We’re having to be very clear with Azerbaijan that this COP received’t be successful if we don’t additionally discuss in regards to the strategy of implementing mitigation, together with the COP28 determination,” they mentioned.

An EU official mentioned the bloc had additionally made its considerations recognized to Baku in regards to the lack of progress on the COP28 settlement. “We confirmed [with Azerbaijan that] it’s crucial we’re in a position to pursue work on the Dubai consensus and we’ll be sure that that is a part of the dialog.”

A negotiator from one other western nation added: “At this stage, it seems extraordinarily bleak and there’s an actual danger that giant emitters throughout the G77 [group of developing nations] will use the troublesome finance negotiations to dam any significant progress on mitigation.”

At this yr’s COP29, to be held in November, nations are resulting from agree on a brand new world aim for climate finance, with nations clashing about how a lot this must 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 gasoline brings in about 90 per cent of Azerbaijan’s export revenues, and funds about 60 per cent of its finances, in line with Worldwide Power Company figures.

Earlier this month, Baku’s lead local weather negotiator Yalchin Rafiyev gave a seven-page speech about latest talks between nations at a retreat in Azerbaijan however didn’t explicitly point out fossil fuels or renewable vitality.

Rafiyev mentioned it was “essential to emphasize the significance of mitigation”, the method of decreasing or stopping the discharge of greenhouse gases into the ambiance versus decreasing 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”, mentioned Andreas Sieber, affiliate director of coverage and campaigns at 350.org, which is an observer group at COP.

The UAE COP28 presidency mentioned it “maintains a relentless give attention to 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 mentioned it was “additionally working tirelessly with the G7 and G20”.

The Azeri COP29 presidency mentioned its management “has repeatedly confused the significance of constructing progress on mitigation, which incorporates, amongst different issues, the transition away from fossil fuels”.

It mentioned 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 fairly than being prescriptive.