Disbelief, anger and disappointment. These are the feelings that permeate the air in the halls of the climate summit after the publication of the first draft of the Dubai agreements proposed by the presidency of the United Arab Emirates. The text, presented this Monday, totally avoids the promise of creating a great global pact against fossil fuels. Europe has defined it as “insufficient” and, in certain points, even “unacceptable.” There are also those who have defined it as a “death sentence” for the countries most vulnerable to climate chaos. The controversial document has provoked an avalanche of criticism and has extended the negotiations until dawn.
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“This agreement proposal does not reflect what science says“, does not reflect the demands of the environmental movement and does not even reflect the position of the majority of countries present here,” denounces Romain Ioualalen, of the ‘Oil Change International’ platform. “It is an incoherent list of promises,” add other activists who have appeared early this Tuesday to show his frontal rejection of the text proposed by the Arab Emirates.
But why no one is happy with this first draft of Dubai agreements? These are the 5 points of contention.
Fossil fuel language
Weak mention of coal
He only fossil fuel that is explicitly mentioned in the first draft of agreements it is coal. The presidency proposes an agreement to “reduce” (not “eliminate”) quickly only the use of coal that does not have carbon capture technologies (a technique that could reduce its impact although, according to experts, it is still too expensive and complicated to use on a large scale). According to several analysts, this mention waseven weaker than the one that was included in the Glasgow agreement signed two years ago. In this sense, then, we would be facing an important step backwards in the fight against the pollutants that have unleashed climate chaos.
Diffuse and unambitious calendar
The text mentions the need to take actions to limit global warming to a maximum of 1.5 degrees on average. But beyond this, It does not establish short-term objectives or a clear calendar to achieve it. It does mention the need to “follow the science” to reach peak emissions by 2025, reduce the thresholds by 43% by 2030, 60% by 2035 and reach zero by 2050. The only concrete goal mentioned is to reduce the use of fossil energy by mid-century (a horizon that, according to experts, It would be too late to achieve the above objectives and avoid climate catastrophe).
No clear financial commitments
Negotiations against the clock
Beyond the dispute over the text, there is also very angry about when it was published and, above all, for the very little time left to iron out differences and reach a consensus. The Dubai summit presidency did not publish any draft of the agreements until Monday, when there were only 24 hours left until the end of the match. This caused a chain reaction of anger, discomfort and a lot of nerves. Negotiators from different countries say they have been working all night on his allegations. Everything indicates that negotiations will intensify in the coming hours. There are those who hope that, after this debate, the summit presidency will present a new draft of agreements. It is not clear when a consensus will be reached but, for now, It seems that the debate is going on for a long time.