Global Climate Conference in News Ticker: Most important passage removed from climate draft, Baerbock clearly states: “Unacceptable”

From Germany to Dubai, Evertz had to overcome almost 50,000 meters of altitude, with a daily distance of between 50 and 120 kilometers. He really felt the heat on his body, in the hottest summer since the start of weather recordings, he says. “I had to get through longer periods in Greece and Turkey with temperatures of 50 degrees. And that’s just unbearable when you’re traveling with a bike weighing 55 kilos, fully loaded – and then have to go up into the mountains.”

There were two moments when he considered giving up, Evertz admits. “But the next morning, when I looked in the mirror, I said: No, you have to keep fighting.”

11:23 AM: As of today, it is also stated in the draft of the final declaration: Azerbaijan will host the next climate conferenceCOP29. This has been agreed upon by the country with Armenia. Finding a host for COP29 was complicated due to regional tensions caused by war.

The UN regulations provide for a rotation in hosting, with a different region taking turns each year. In 2024, Eastern Europe would be due to take over the presidency. However, the group had to unanimously decide which country would take on the task. Russia had denied the hosting to EU countries, while Azerbaijan and Armenia blocked each other’s applications.

The decision to choose Azerbaijan as the host was made on Thursday, when Armenia and Azerbaijan announced in a joint statement that Armenia would withdraw its application and support Azerbaijan’s bid. They expressed the view that this was a historic opportunity to achieve long-awaited peace in the region.

However, the selection of Azerbaijan as host could provoke protests from climate activists, who claim that the climate conferences have been partially co-opted by the interests of the fossil fuel industry. Azerbaijan, a country with 10 million inhabitants on the border between Eastern Europe and West Asia, is heavily reliant on the extraction of fuels that contribute to warming the planet when burned. Oil and gas production accounted for nearly half of the country’s GDP and over 92.5 percent of its export earnings last year.

The allocation is based on the individual regions (Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Eastern Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Western Europe). The UAE has applied to host this year’s climate conference in Dubai and has been supported by the Asian and Pacific countries.

UN Secretary-General Returns to Dubai – Calls for Turning Point: “We Stand on the Brink of a Climate Catastrophe”

Monday, December 11, 07:56 AM: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has returned to Dubai for the final stretch of the World Climate Conference. “We stand on the brink of a climate catastrophe, this conference must be a turning point,” Guterres wrote on platform X on Sunday night. He has come to make an urgent appeal to the state leaders. “Commit to the 1.5-degree limit. End the fossil age. Deliver climate justice. Make #COP28 count.”

In Dubai, states are fiercely debating the phasing out of coal, oil, and gas. The negotiations are stalling, with new drafts of the final text expected on Monday.

Flasbarth: Advocates of Fossil Fuels in Dubai Holding Other Progress “Hostage”

1:00 PM: The German government warns at the World Climate Conference in Dubai against blocking progress in other negotiation areas due to the dispute over a global abandonment of fossil fuels. According to Development Secretary of State Jochen Flasbarth in Dubai, negotiations on measures to adapt to climate change are “being held hostage to a significant extent” by some countries.

Flasbarth did not want to name the blockaders. In general, he referred to the countries “who are not quite euphoric about a fossil phaseout right now,” apparently with particular reference to oil-rich countries such as Saudi Arabia. Therefore, the negotiation climate on the adaptation issue is currently “less constructive” than at previous world climate conferences.The development undersecretary criticized. From his point of view, the issues are still “solvable”.

At the UN climate conferences, in addition to the major negotiation thread of emission reduction to protect the climate, there is also the negotiation thread of adaptation to the already occurring heating of the earth and its consequences. Here, it is about countries preparing for the increasing extreme weather situations such as droughts, storms, and floods caused by climate change. Poorer countries need support from the wealthier nations, which have also significantly contributed to climate change.

As part of the 2015 Paris climate agreement, the so-called Global Adaptation Goal was already formulated in principle. Similar to the temperature limit of 1.5 degrees in the field of climate protection, it should serve as a guide for the contracting parties and promote an expansion of adaptation financing. However, negotiators in Dubai are now faced with the task of formulating this mandate more precisely, making it verifiable, and formally implementing it.

10.27 am: According to a recent analysis by the International Energy Agency (IEA), the commitments made at the COP28 climate conference in Dubai are insufficient in three key areas to achieve the international climate target of 1.5 degrees of global warming.

The IEA has examined three areas that received commitments during the climate conference in Dubai: 

• The tripling of capacities from renewable energies and the doubling of energy efficiency by 2030, known as the Triple-Double-Pledge. Around 130 countries have signed this, together accounting for 40% of global CO2 emissions from fossil fuels. They also account for around 37% of the world’s energy demand and generate more than half of the global gross domestic product.
• The reduction of methane emissions to zero by 2030, which among other measures is to be achieved through combustion bans and sealing methane leaks. The 50 companies that have signed this pledge represent about 40% of global CO2 emissions and 35% of combined oil and gas production.

However, the IEA analysis shows that even through the full fulfillment of these commitments in all areas, greenhouse gas emissions would only be reduced by about four gigatons of CO2 equivalent by 2030 – compared to a scenario without these commitments.

This reduction in emissions in 2030 covers only about 30% of the emission gap that needs to be closed in order to put the world on a path compatible with the Paris climate goals of 1.5 degrees.

Read more about the World Climate Conference in Dubai on the next pages.