{"id":47712,"date":"2022-12-06T10:46:44","date_gmt":"2022-12-06T10:46:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/?p=47712"},"modified":"2022-12-08T14:37:24","modified_gmt":"2022-12-08T14:37:24","slug":"uae-plans-to-have-it-both-ways-as-cop28-climate-summit-host","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2022\/12\/06\/uae-plans-to-have-it-both-ways-as-cop28-climate-summit-host\/","title":{"rendered":"UAE plans to have it both ways as Cop28 climate summit host"},"content":{"rendered":"

If there was a sign the United Arab Emirates is taking its role as host of the next UN climate talks seriously, the <\/strong>1,073 delegates it registered<\/strong><\/a> to attend the Cop27 summit in Egypt would be it. <\/strong><\/p>\n

The Persian Gulf petrostate came out in force in Sharm el-Sheikh with the second largest delegation in the history of climate summits, including 70 oil and gas lobbyists<\/a>\u00a0 \u2013 a flavour of what is to come.<\/p>\n

The UAE takes on the UN climate talks presidency from the Egyptians at the end of November next year, when it hosts Cop28 on the site of the Dubai Expo.<\/p>\n

The Emirates are seeking international clout as the Gulf\u2019s most proactive nation on climate action. It was first in the region to set a 2050 net zero goal. And at Cop27, it became the first to announce absolute emission cuts, instead of from a hypothetical business-as-usual baseline.<\/p>\n

But its plan includes expanding oil and gas production, which is incompatible with limiting global warming to 1.5C<\/a>. The UAE has pitched its role as providing the world with reliable and low-carbon intensity oil and gas for decades to come.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe UAE is known as a responsible supplier of energy and will continue to play this role as long as the world needs oil and gas,\u201d president Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan told the leaders\u2019 summit at Cop27.<\/p>\n

Two-pronged approach<\/h3>\n

In its climate diplomacy, the UAE is pursuing a two-pronged approach: an aggressive campaign to fund thousands of megawatts of clean energy at home and overseas and even greater efforts to boost its oil and gas production.<\/p>\n

It is on the defensive, as the case for leaving fossil fuels in the ground gets more vocal. In Sharm el-Sheikh, more than 80 countries<\/a> pushed to extend language on phasing down unabated coal power to oil and gas, but petrostates blocked it<\/a> from formal negotiation. The issue is not going away.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Emiratis will find it difficult to deal with a fast-moving debate on fossil fuels, given their economy is structured around oil and gas,\u201d Glada Lahn, a senior research fellow at London-based think tank Chatham House. \u201cSharm showed that the tide is turning. What\u2019s missing are the great examples of diversification \u2013 the UAE could definitely elevate its work on that.\u201d<\/p>\n