Denmark's climate minister Dan Jorgensen told Financial Times Climate Capital Live delegates that there is a risk that decisions taken during the UN Cop 28 climate summit in Dubai could be treated as a menu, but warned that they will have to be at the heart of countries' new climate plans due in 2025.
Cop 28 delivered at the end of last year an energy package centred on transitioning away from fossil fuels and tripling renewable capacity by 2030, which was hailed as an "historic" consensus. Saudi energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said in January during the Future Minerals Forum that the eight points under the energy section of the text were "choices", calling it an "a la carte menu".
The Cop 28 text was the conclusion of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change's (UNFCCC) first global stocktake — a five-yearly undertaking measuring progress against the goals of the Paris Agreement.
Prince Abdulaziz had said that the menu, referring to the Cop 28 text, "was something we were willing to agree to because this is something we are doing", including transitioning away from fossil fuels domestically. But he also said that the extra crude from lower domestic consumption would be exported, asking developed countries that are pushing to phase down fossil fuels production to take the lead.
Jorgensen said today that countries' upcoming Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) — emission reduction plans — "have to be informed by the decisions in Dubai and will be measured on their meaning". He said that Cop decisions often face criticism, citing the Paris Agreement which was described as "not being legally binding enough" or weak, as only voluntary. "But I don't think many people would argue today that the Paris agreement hasn't had an influence. It sets the norm," Jorgensen added. The Paris accord seeks to limit global warming to "well below" 2°C above the pre-industrial average and preferably to 1.5°C.
Denmark, the largest oil producer in the EU, decided to end all new oil and gas extraction in the country by 2050, although the country faced some criticism after authorising a gas output increase from already licensed fields to curb Copenhagen's reliance on Russian supplies.
Asked whether countries such as the UAE, China and Saudi Arabia, which are not considered as developed countries under the UNFCCC framework should contribute to the new climate finance goal set to replace the $100bn/yr by 2020 commitment, Jorgensen said: "If we look at the biggest emitters in the world many of them are categorised as developing countries and they are also going through a phase of steep economic growth, so it would be fair if they were to contribute". He pointed out that the UAE was the first contributor of the new loss and damage fund — to tackle the unavoidable and irreversible effects of climate change — created during Cop 28. "That was a completely new thing and hopefully it can pave the way for more of those sources of donations," he said.
The new climate finance goal will be under discussion at the next UN climate talks, which will take place in Azerbaijan in November. Cop 29 president-designate Mukhtar Babayev said previously that he is seeking quantifiable targets from developed countries.
