Outrage over final text: COP28 a cop-out?
The EU has rejected the current draft of the final text of the COP28 climate summit in Dubai after a pledge to phase out coal, oil and gas was cut. Instead, the 21-page document merely calls for reductions in the consumption and production of fossil fuels. Environmental organisations and countries especially threatened by the climate crisis have expressed dismay. Europe's press also lambastes the text.
Despicable cynicism
The oil lobby has shown its might, notes Delo:
“Opec has made this clear in a letter to its members, urging them to reject any mention of abandoning or phasing out fossil fuels. 'Pressure against fossil fuels may reach a tipping point with irreversible consequences,' Opec warned. What intolerable cynicism: the fossil fuel lobby has hijacked the language of scientists who warn that climate change could lead to a tipping point for several of the Earth's ecosystems and trigger a domino effect of irreversible disasters around the world.”
The most important goal is missing
The Cop is a flop, La Stampa comments laconically:
“After ten days of negotiations, the bar for progress has been lowered and hopes have sunk to the bottom of the Arabian Gulf. The new draft of the final agreement arrived yesterday afternoon. ... But there is still too much distance between the parties. And since the document would have to be adopted unanimously, there is a risk that it will be negotiated to the hilt. It all revolves around two words. Because on the 21 pages which are crammed with technical jargon, the most discussed term of the last two weeks is suddenly missing: phase-out. Phase-out means a gradual elimination and refers to fossil fuels: oil, gas and coal.”
A slap in the face
This was foreseeable, La Repubblica complains:
“Last night, rumours were rife in the corridors of Expo City Dubai that al-Jaber had taken off the kid gloves. Whether the 'slap in the face' he delivered 24 hours before the end of the event was planned from the outset or whether it was the result of Saudi pressure on the cousins from the Emirates remains an open question. ... In any case, Riyadh endeavoured to unite the front of oil producers: starting with Iran, Iraq, Russia and Kuwait. ... A vigorous defence of the power and wealth derived from the exploitation of oil fields, not only in Arabia, of course.”
Where there's a will, there's a way
International cooperation has seen better times, Új Szó explains:
“The ozone layer began to regenerate in 2018 and is expected to return to 1980 levels in most parts of the world by 2040. This was only possible because decision-makers prioritised life over profit and acted in line with the recommendations of scientists and researchers. ... The fact that one in thirty participants at the world's most important climate summit has ties with the fossil fuel industry should not become the norm.”