Fossils or not? Nations are divided on how to achieve climate goals

BERLIN (AP) — Senior officials from dozens of countries gathered in Berlin on Wednesday remained divided on how to meet international climate goals, with some calling for a phaseout of fossil fuels and others insisting that oil and gas can continue to play a role in the future – provided that their emissions are reduced in some way.

The two-day Petersberg climate dialogue, hosted by Germany, heard calls for a new target to increase the use of renewable energy to be negotiated and agreed at this year’s UN climate summit in December.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, however, made clear that the proposal should not detract from the need to drastically reduce the use of fossil fuels, a position shared by other European nations and vulnerable island states present at the Berlin talks.

The United Arab Emirates, which will host the UN talks in Dubai, has backed the idea of ​​significantly increasing wind and solar power but has made clear it wants to keep fossil fuels as an option for the foreseeable future.

Sultan al-Jaber, a United Arab Emirates official who will chair the talks in Dubai, said his country wants “a comprehensive, holistic approach to the energy transition, covering all energy sources.”

Al-Jaber acknowledged that time is running out to maintain the agreed goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit). This would require halving global emissions by 2030, which would cause a sharp collapse in the current upward curve of greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere.

Climate activists have expressed concern that proposed technologies to capture emissions from fossil fuels have not yet been tested on a large scale and that such solutions could divert attention and resources from effective alternatives such as renewable energy.

During the meeting, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced that his country will donate an additional EUR 2 billion to the Green Climate Fund for adaptation activities in developing countries. He appealed to other “traditional and potential new donors” to also increase their funding. The United States recently said it would contribute $1 billion, while major emitters such as China are making no contributions.

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