In leaked letter, OPEC secy gen asks members to reject any language on fossil fuel phase-out
In leaked letter, OPEC secy gen asks members to reject any language on fossil fuel phase-out
The emergence of leaked contents of a letter by the secretary-general of Oil Producing and Exporting Countries (OPEC), asking its members to reject any language on fossil fuels elimination, is expected to lead to much bad blood in the negotiating rooms at COP28 climate conference.
The letter, from secretary general Haitham Al Ghais to all 13 OPEC members and some other fossil-fuel dependent economies, was sent on December 6 but was reported only on Friday by multiple wire agencies including Reuters and Bloomberg.
The letter asks the member countries to reject any formulation that is focused on fossil fuels instead of the emissions that it leads to. It is a line that has been taken by Saudi Arabia, the most influential member of OPEC, at the COP28 negotiations on fossil fuels.
“It seems that the undue and disproportionate pressure against fossil fuels may reach a tipping point with irreversible consequences, as the draft decision still contains options on fossil fuels phase out,” the letter said.
“It would be unacceptable that politically motivated campaigns put our people’s prosperity and future at risk,” it said.
Fossil fuel phase-out is one of the most contentious issues being discussed at COP28. The decisions of earlier COP meetings so far have focused on cutting emissions, but do not mention the source of these emissions. But with the climate crisis spiralling out of control, and fossil fuels accounting for nearly 80 per cent of all emissions, this position is becoming increasingly untenable.
COP28 president Sultan Al Jaber had landed in a controversy at the start of the COP28 meeting when a conversation was leaked in which he seemed to question the science linking fossil fuel phase-out to the 1.5 degree Celsius target.
The language on a possible fossil fuel phase-out is being negotiated in the meetings on a Global Stocktake (GST), a review exercise of climate actions that was mandated by the Paris Agreement. Two draft agreement texts on GST have so far included options on the phase-out of fossil fuels, but there is a ‘no text’ option as well, maintaining the possibility of this issue being dropped completely.
The OPEC countries are not the only ones opposing fossil fuels phase-out. Large and influential players, including the United States, China and India, are also not very enthusiastic about its inclusion in the final agreement, though they are mainly focused on inserting a language that would offer them some manoeuvrability in terms of protecting their interests.
The Marshall Islands, a Pacific Island state which has been campaigning for the phase-out of fossil fuels, reacted strongly to the letter by the OPEC secretary general.
“Nothing puts the prosperity and future of all people on earth, including all of the citizens of OPEC countries, at greater risk than fossil fuels. This is why the High Ambition Coalition is pushing for a phase out of fossil fuels, which are at the root of this crisis. 1.5 (degree Celsius target) is not negotiable, and that means an end to fossil fuels,” Marshall Islands climate envoy Tina Stege said.