Associate Press copy is provided via The Canadian Press
FILE – Delegates gather inside the venue on another day at the COP26 U.N. climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2021. A senior United Arab Emirates official says the Gulf nation wants the U.N. climate summit it’s hosting later this year to deliver “game-changing results” for international efforts to curb global warming, but doing so will require having the fossil fuel industry at the table. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali, File)
BERLIN (AP) — Nations resumed talks on tackling global warming Monday with the aim of shaping a deal that might put the world on track to prevent a dangerous increase in temperatures, as the U.N.’s top climate official called for deep cuts in fossil fuel use.
Diplomats began two-week negotiations in Bonn, Germany, despite failing to agree on a formal agenda because of differences on the topic of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
The issue lies at the heart of the climate problem, since burning oil, coal and gas is responsible for most warming that’s occurred since preindustrial times.
Simon Stiell, who heads the U.N. climate office, told The Associated Pess in an interview over the weekend that limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) will require a phaseout of fossil fuels, something many oil-producing countries have pushed back on.
Environmental campaigners have lamented that this year’s U.N. climate summit will be held in the United Arab Emirates, a major fossil fuel exporter, and presided over by the chief executive of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company. The host nation has pushed back against this criticism.
Stiell said that having leaders gather in Dubai this fall should be seen as an opportunity.
“We have a president (for the talks) who has significant experience in the oil and gas sector, in an oil and gas producing nation,” he told reporters in Bonn. “It provides an opportunity to ask some very difficult questions, but also to seek some very difficult but needed answers.”
Asked about calls for curbs on the presence of fossil fuel lobbyists, Stiell said that his office is looking into ways of ensuring greater transparency based on the experience of previous meetings, known in U.N.-speak as Conferences of the Parties, or COPs.
“Some of those measures may actually be put in place before the next COP, to help ensure the transparency and the integrity of the process,” he said, without elaborating.
Stiell said the failure to adopt an agenda at the start of the technical talks in Bonn was “not desirable, but it’s not uncommon.”
“There will be consultations with parties with regard to the unresolved agenda items. But the important thing is work has started,” he said, adding that he hopes negotiators from almost 200 countries can have a “productive and constructive engagement.”
Asked about the importance of reducing fossil fuel use, Stiell said that “the science is clear.”
“Halving emissions by 2030 and reaching ‘net zero’ by 2050 requires a deep cut and reduction, the phasing out, phasing down of all fossil fuels,” he said.
He welcomed the steep rise in renewable energy production, with unprecedented levels of investment and deployment of solar and wind power in recent years.
“That’s one half of the equation,” Stiell said. “But the other requires those deep cuts in fossil fuel production and consumption, and that we are not seeing.”
- 0072 Outlaw Buckers and Oil Kings 20240072 Outlaw Buckers and Oil Kings 2024
- 0069 Sask Oil Show 2024 banquet tickets0069 Sask Oil Show 2024 banquet tickets
- 0071 Pride Upkeep 2024 Packages0071 Pride Upkeep 2024 Packages
- 0070 Sask Oil Show 2024 pre-register0070 Sask Oil Show 2024 pre-register
- 0068 Sask Oil Show 2024 booth0068 Sask Oil Show 2024 booth
- 0067 PFM SaskWorks Payroll Investment Plan0067 PFM SaskWorks Payroll Investment Plan
- 0066 WBPC Promo video 30 seconds0066 WBPC Promo video 30 seconds
- 0065 Anova Resources field operator Oxbow0065 Anova Resources field operator Oxbow
- 0064 Estevan OTS0064 Estevan OTS
- 0063 Turnbull Excavating hiring crusher0063 Turnbull Excavating hiring crusher
- 0062 TED_EPAC_Technology_300062 TED_EPAC_Technology_30
- 0061 SIMSA 2024 For Sask Buy Sask0061 SIMSA 2024 For Sask Buy Sask
- 0060 Arizona Lithium Lease building0060 Arizona Lithium Lease building
- 0059 Southeast College Heavy Equipment Operator0059 Southeast College Heavy Equipment Operator
- 0058 Royal Helium Steveville opens anonymous rocket0058 Royal Helium Steveville opens anonymous rocket
- 0055 Smart Power Be Smart with your Power office0055 Smart Power Be Smart with your Power office
- 0053 Kingston Midstream Westspur Alameda Click Before You Dig large text0053 Kingston Midstream Westspur Alameda Click Before You Dig large text
- 0052 Predator Inspections0052 Predator Inspections
- 0051 JML Hiring Pumpjack assembly0051 JML Hiring Pumpjack assembly
- 0049 Scotsburn Dental soft guitar0049 Scotsburn Dental soft guitar
- 0046 City of Estevan This is Estevan0046 City of Estevan This is Estevan
- 0041 DEEP Since 2018 now we are going to build0041 DEEP Since 2018 now we are going to build
- 0032 IWS Summer hiring rock trailer music
- 0022 Grimes winter hiring
- 0021 OSY Rentals S8 Promo
- 0018 IWS Hiring Royal Summer
- 0015 Latus Viro0015 Latus Viro
- 0013 Panther Drilling PO ad 03 top drive rigs
- 0011
- 0006 JK Junior
- 0002 gilliss casing services0002 gilliss casing services
- 9002 Pipeline Online 30 sec EBEX9002 Pipeline Online 30 sec EBEX
- 9001