{"id":39716,"date":"2019-06-27T16:15:21","date_gmt":"2019-06-27T15:15:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/?p=39716"},"modified":"2019-08-05T09:19:18","modified_gmt":"2019-08-05T08:19:18","slug":"un-report-1-5c-blocked-climate-talks-saudi-arabia-disputes-science","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2019\/06\/27\/un-report-1-5c-blocked-climate-talks-saudi-arabia-disputes-science\/","title":{"rendered":"UN report on 1.5C blocked from climate talks after Saudi Arabia disputes science"},"content":{"rendered":"

A major report on 1.5C has been excluded from formal UN climate negotiations, after Saudi Arabia tried to discredit its scientific underpinnings.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Discussions came to a deadlock at the talks in Bonn after a small group of countries refused to engage in substantive discussions over how the report\u2019s findings could be used to inform policies on increasing the pace and scale of decarbonisation.<\/p>\n

The report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) lays out the differences between 1.5C and 2C of warming<\/a> \u2013 a matter of survival for many vulnerable countries including small island states which pushed for the findings to lead to more ambitious carbon-cutting policies.<\/p>\n

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At the closing plenary, which took place amid soaring summer temperatures in the former west German capital, a five-paragraph watered-down agreement put an end to formal discussions on the report.<\/p>\n

The agreed text<\/a> expressed \u201cappreciation and gratitude\u201d to the scientific community for the report, which it said \u201creflects the best available science\u201d and notes \u201cthe views expressed on how to strengthen scientific knowledge on global warming of 1.5C\u201d.<\/p>\n

It offers no way forward for the report to be considered further in formal negotiations.<\/p>\n

In the final meeting of the talks, diplomats came together to express their disappointment. Franz Perrez, lead negotiator for Switzerland, wore a t-shirt with the message “science is not negotiable” and urged countries to use the report to inform their policies and “make the right decisions”.<\/p>\n

A diplomat from Costa Rica said the IPCC report on 1.5C represented “a great triumph of science” and that “the quality of the work and the robustness of the conclusions are a tremendous achievement”.<\/p>\n

“We recognise that many messages of the special report are difficult to accept,” she said, adding: “On climate change, listening to the science is not a choice but a duty. If we are asking the world to change, we also, as representatives, need to be willing to change.”<\/p>\n

The meeting’s chair Paul Watkinson said science remained “at the heart” of UN Climate Change’s science stream and that it is “essential for all our collective and individual activities”.<\/p>\n

Carlos Fuller, lead negotiator for the alliance of small island states (Aosis), told Climate Home News he was disappointed there would be no other formal opportunities for countries to delve into the science.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen anyone is trying to discredit the science it is worrying, especially in the middle of a heatwave. We are the ones suffering if others reject the science,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Climate news straight to your inbox?<\/strong> Sign up here<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Fuller said the final version of the text \u201cencouraged everyone to use the [report’s findings]\u201d but prevented the science from being debated.<\/p>\n

Following pressure from a group of large oil and gas producers led by Saudi Arabia, a previous version<\/a> of the text aimed to cast doubt on the report\u2019s scientific grounding. It stressed the \u201crisks and uncertainties\u201d of the report\u2019s methodology and raised concerns that \u201cthe scientific knowledge gap\u201d would \u201champer the ability to inform decision making at national, regional and international levels.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gebru Jember Endalew of Ethiopia, negotiator for the group of least developed countries, told Climate Home News this previous version of the text was \u201cunacceptable\u201d because it \u201cquestioned and revisited the science\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t negotiate science,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is not our mandate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Climate Home News needs your help\u2026<\/strong> We\u2019re an independent news outlet dedicated to the most important global stories. If you can spare even a few dollars each month, it would make a huge difference to us. Our Patreon account<\/a> is a safe and easy way to support our work.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Endalew said that although excluding the report from formal negotiations was \u201ca mistake\u201d it was a better outcome to \u201cgo without anything rather than having a shopping list of issues\u201d.<\/p>\n

Instead, he called on Chile, which is taking on the talks\u2019 presidency, to organise events so that discussions can continue informally.<\/p>\n

The report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was commissioned by the UN on behalf of all countries, including those now objecting to its methodology.<\/p>\n

Saudi Arabia, the US, Kuwait and Russia also refused to endorse the report’s findings<\/a> at the last round of talks in Katowice, Poland, last year, despite support from almost the entire community of nations.<\/p>\n

Alden Meyer, policy director at the Union of Concerned Scientists, described the agreed text as \u201cvery weak\u201d and added little more than what had already been agreed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt shows a small group of large oil and gas producing countries have deep concerns about the implications of the report for their future revenue and are coordinating a strategy to try and block these implications to be more widely understood.<\/p>\n

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THREAD on why Saudi Arabia is so afraid of the @IPCC_CH<\/a>'s 1.5C report https:\/\/t.co\/VX4RuRxz9W<\/a><\/p>\n

— Climate Home News (@ClimateHome) June 27, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n