Director-General of the 28th Climate Conference of the Parties (COP28), Majid Al Suwaidi, said on Tuesday (December 12) that the UAE presidency was working on a new draft agreement based on the “red lines” expressed the day before by the countries that rejected his first proposal.
“We’ve known for a long time that the language around fossil fuels was complicated and the opinions were complicated. It is important that we have the right formulas about them,” Majid Al Suwaidi observed to reporters. “Some want an exit, others a reduction, others still want different formulas. The goal is to achieve consensus,” he concluded.
Objectives for 2030
The presidency of the COP is working on a new text, after having published on Monday a document with language considered too weak on fossil fuels by the European Union, the United States, small island states and many South American countries.
“We got the parties to come back to us quickly with their red lines,” said Majid Al Suwaid, adding that the new text expected in Dubai should include more objectives by 2030, therefore be more precise than the previous draft. “We would all like to finish on time, but we all want to achieve the most ambitious result possible. This is our only objective,” he said, on the last scheduled day of the 28th UN conference on climate change.
A new draft agreement is expected on Tuesday, according to delegates. However, on the 8th anniversary of the Paris Agreement, the adoption of a historic text calling for an exit from oil, gas and coal now seems very unlikely.