A senior government official has disclosed that Germany believes there is a prospect that a deal will be struck at this year’s U.N. climate summit in Dubai, Cop28, to hasten the phase-out of fossil fuels, similar to the one agreed upon over the weekend by the Group of Seven rich countries (G7).
In the joint statement at their meeting in Sapporo, Japan, G7 energy and climate ministers agreed to speed up the phase-out of unabated fossil fuels in order to reach net zero in energy systems by 2050.
The German official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he believed there is ‘a chance’ to reach a similar deal at the U.N. climate summit, to be hosted by the United Arab Emirates, a major oil producer and a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, from Nov. 30 in Dubai.
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In his words, “In the Gulf region, they (UAE) are the country that is most going into the (green) transition. They are sitting on oil and gas, but they know they need to go into the future with renewables in order to still have a business case in 30 years.”
Germany was a member of a group of countries that campaigned for a fossil fuel phase-out accord at Cop27 last year. However, Russia, Iran, and Saudi Arabia rejected their suggestion. Any country may veto an agreement under UN regulations.
Story was adapted from Climate Home News
