Brazil Says Fossil Fuels Deal Key To COP28 Success

(MENAFN- Brazil-Arab News Agency (ANBA)) Dubai –“The metrics of the success at this COP will depend on the language used on fossil fuels,” said Brazil's Environment Minister Marina Silva at a press conference on Monday (11) afternoon, on the penultimate day of COP28 in Dubai.

According to the minister, COP28 needs to result on a deal that includes clear language on phasing out fossil fuels in the sense of facilitating the means to increasingly accelerate renewable energy sources in a fair way.“ Taking our feet off the accelerator of fossil fuels is unavoidable, and when I say, 'fair way,' it is in the sense that developing countries should know that all share a responsibility, that all should run this path, but developed countries have to lead the race,” she said.

Marina Silva at a press conference on the penultimate day of COP28 in Dubai

She added that Brazil wants the outcome to be“consistent to the mission the science is telling us to take on”, referring to the need to reduce emissions to reach the 1.5°C limit.

“This is a decisive COP. We believe that following the Paris Agreement, it's in this tripod of COP28, COP29 and COP30 a stocktake can be made. Here we are based on the Global Stocktake with the ingredients needed to handle this mission established by the science of 1.5°C,” said Silva.

She said that the high-level meetings made it clear that there's an alignment as most have expressed the need to look at what the science says.

“It has been 31 years since we held Rio92, when a diagnostic was made that the leading source of the global warming was the fossil fuel . Thirty-one years later, after much delay, here we are at this COP, where this will be internalized, metabolized, so that we reach 2030 with all of these topics duly assimilated to have a response worthy of our ambitions,” she said.

Minutes prior to the press conference, a draft of the deal was released, and there hadn't been time for the minister to read it.“We got the text on our way to the press conference. Regardless of what it says, the metrics of success at this COP will be related to adaptation, mitigation, and fossil fuel phaseout , and there is time to work until this COP ends as Brazil has held talks in search of this language that embraces the expectation put forth by the society and the scientists,” said Silva.

The minister believes that addressing the topic of fossil fuels at a COP is something“unheard of in 31 years.”

It is necessary, she said, to eliminate our economies' dependence on fossil fuels.

“President Lula was very clear in his opening speech that phasing out fossil fuels is urgent, and that for it to happen, it is fundamental that we all phase out from our dependence on non-renewable energy sources like coal, oil, gas and the likes,” she said.

Other indicatives of the success at COP28, said Marina Silva, are the loss and damage fund that was established on the first day of the conference, as well as actions for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions, and establishing a climate change adaptation agenda.“Vulnerable countries require help – whether it is in funding, human resources, technologies – to make these adaptations,” she said.

António Guterres

Speaking to the press on Monday (11), U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres spoke about the negotiations and the wrap-up of COP28.“We are in a race against time... Our planet is minutes to midnight for the 1.5-degree limit. And the clock keeps ticking. Now is the time for maximum ambition and maximum flexibility... It is time to seek compromise for solutions – without compromising on the science or compromising on the need for the highest ambition,” he said.

Guterres at a press conference on Monday at COP28

Guterres said that in a fractured and divided world, COP28 can show that multilateralism remains the best hope to tackle global challenges and asked parties to ensure maximum ambition on reducing greenhouse gas emissions delivering climate justice.

The secretary-general said that the next two years are vital to establish a new and meaningful global climate finance goal beyond 2025, reflecting the scale and urgency of the climate challenge, and for governments to prepare and present new national climate action plans that are economy-wide, cover all greenhouse gases and are fully aligned with the 1.5-degree temperature limit.

“Governments must leave Dubai with a clear understanding of what is required between now and [COP30] in Brazil. So as we approach the finish line for COP28, my main message is clear: We must conclude COP28 with an ambitious outcome that demonstrates decisive action and a credible plan to keep 1.5 alive and protect those on the frontlines of the climate crisis. We can't keep kicking the can down the road. We are out of road – and almost out of time,” he concluded.

COP30 in Belém

Monday (11) also said the officialization of Belém, Brazil, as the host city of COP30 in 2025. Following various negotiations, it was also decided that the next summit, 2024's COP29, will be held in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan.

Translated by Guilherme Miranda

The post Brazil says fossil fuels deal key to COP28 success appeared first on Agência de Notícias Brasil-Árabe .

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