Countries at the COP28 climate conference in Dubai are considering calling for a formal phaseout of fossil fuels as part of the UN summit's final deal to tackle global warming, a draft negotiating text seen on Tuesday shows. The Arab Coordination Group (ACG) said on the sidelines of the summit that it would allocate $10 billion to support energy transition until 2030, UAE state news agency (WAM) said on Tuesday.
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Arab Coordination Group allocates $10 billion to support energy transition
The Arab Coordination Group (ACG) said on the sidelines of the UN's COP28 climate summit that it would allocate $10 billion to support energy transition until 2030, UAE state news agency (WAM) said on Tuesday.
The funding by ACG, an alliance comprising regional and international development institutions, was meant "to drive a comprehensive and affordable transition to renewable energy in developing countries", WAM added.
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Up to 63 countries back COP28 pledge to curb cooling emissions
The United States, Canada and Kenya were among 63 countries to join a pledge on Tuesday to deeply cut cooling-related emissions at the United Nations climate summit in Dubai.
The Global Cooling Pledge marks the world's first collective focus on climate-warming emissions from cooling, which includes refrigeration for food and medicine and air conditioning. It commits countries to reduce by 2050 their cooling-related emissions by at least 68% compared to 2022 levels, along with a suite of other targets including establishing minimum energy performance standards by 2030.
"We want to lay out a pathway to reduce cooling-related emissions across all sectors but increase access to sustainable cooling," US climate envoy John Kerry told COP28.
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UAE's 'repressive environment' complicating COP28 activism, Amnesty International says
Restrictions on speech and protest in the United Arab Emirates are complicating UN approval of an Amnesty event at COP28 demanding the release of Emirati political prisoners, the group's secretary-general said Tuesday.
Speaking on the sidelines of the United Nations climate talks in Dubai, Agnes Callamard said the obstacles hampering activist actions within an UN-managed Blue Zone at the COP venue are slightly larger than previous years despite no changes to the guidelines. "The UN has been trying to find ways for us to do our actions. It is taking a lot of steps and negotiations... but it is working within an environment that is making them... much more complicated," Callamard told reporters at the COP28 venue.
In previous years, "the obstacles we confronted may have been a bit less", she said, adding that "the number of negotiations and hurdles to me indicate that the interpretation of the (UN) rules are largely driven by the (UAE) environment in which we operate".
Responding to Callamard's comments, the UAE's COP28 team said applications for Blue Zone actions were reviewed "exclusively" by the UN.
Amnesty and Human Rights Watch accuse the UAE of jailing 64 Emirati political prisoners, including rights activists, many of whom authorities accuse of having links to outlawed groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP & Reuters)
