A renowned Nigerian environmentalist, Nnimmo Bassey, has condemned the draft Global Stocktake (GST) of COP28 for refusing to phase out production of fossil fuels as an urgent climate action.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that parties at the global climate conference known as COP28 in Dubai on Monday released the draft deal, a document that would form the final agreement of the summit.
But as against the demand for a total halt to the production of fossil fuels in the world by many countries, scientists and activists, the deal replaced the word ‘phase out’ with ‘reduce’.
Reacting to this development, Bassey, who is a member of the Oilwatch International, said the draft text was filled with nothing, but platitudes that nonetheless stayed away from the real needs of climate action.
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The environmentalist, who is the Executive Director, Home of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), said the document was stuck with carbon removals systems which could promote risky, unproven technologies as well as severe impacts on communities.
“It (the document) speaks of substitution or reduction of production and consumption of fossil fuels.
“It is also stuck with carbon removals systems which could promote risky, unproven, technologies as well as severe impacts on communities; big shame that the fossil fingers are bent on setting the world on fire.
“The UNEP Emissions Gap Report clearly showed that the voluntary emissions reduction pathway set by the Paris Agreement is simply incinerating the planet.’’
According to him, the document reaffirms the nationally determined nature of nationally determined contributions.
“This emphasises that national interest trumps global needs is a hard-nosed refusal of the parties to adhere to the principle of CBDR-RC (Common but Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities) and unambiguously call for an urgent phase out of fossil fuels,” he said.
According to Bassey, the COP (Conference of Parties) needs to believe the evidence in the Sixth Assessment Report of the Inter-Governmental Panel Climate Change (IPCC).
The panel, he said, mentioned it repeatedly in the text, and accepted that the world needed concrete steps such as a measurable and binding emissions reduction regime based on historical and current responsibilities.
The activist concludes that the draft deal has only done the bidding of the fossil lobby.
