COP-28 negotiations become tense, loss & damage fund secretariat notified under UNDRR: Dr Suleri

DUBAI/ISLAMABAD (05 December 2023): Dr Abid Qaiyum Suleri, the Executive Director of Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) has said that after five days of constant negotiations at the COP-28, the excitement of the international forum has converted into a tension on the negotiating text based on diverging opinions of different delegates.

In his online interaction with media here on Tuesday from Dubai, Dr Suleri, who is regularly sharing his views on the official discussions at the COP-28, said tension prevails among the negotiators this time especially on the global goals and means of adaptation not only between the developing and developed countries but also between G-77 states and China.

However, he said, the Santiago Network, which was set up to provide technical support on the implementation of Loss and Damage Fund, finally decided its secretariat to be placed under the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR).  “This was a tie between the Caribbean Development Bank and UNDRR but on developing countries emphasis, it was not placed under the multilateral development bank but the UN office,” he added. 

Commenting on the Clean Energy Transition, Dr Suleri said negotiations on energy to phase out fossil fuels by 2050 were also held. The developing countries are agreeing on the harmful impact of fossil fuels but they are asking for some sort of just energy transition because it will be impossible for them to switch alternate energy solutions if imposed abruptly in the next 27 years, he said, adding that “OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) countries are not agreeing on the deadline to phase out  fossil fuels and negotiation are going on.” 

On Climate Financing, the SDPI Executive Director said there is a bit of progress and the host country announced special fund for health and climate-related health situations whereas in bits and pieces funding is coming. 

“The loss and damage fund pledges so far are comparable to the adaptation fund as neither of them could cross the one billion dollars mark till now and that’s why the developing countries have shown concerns,” Dr Suleri underlined. 

Elaborating the COP negotiation process, Dr Suleri said all the contrasting and diverging position countries will start submitting their positions in a “bracketed language” and in the COP, language on a draft position is agreed but then they start submitting their diverging views that are called brackets in the negotiation language. 

In the second week from December 8, bilateral and plurilateral efforts would be made to remove those texts so that by December 12, consensus-based package can be delivered by the COP presidency, he added. 

In his opinion expressed to Dr Abid Suleri, the former federal minister Syed Naveed Qamar of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), said Pakistan is one of the most impacted countries due to climate change that had faced recurrent phenomenon of floods in the past years and also the prolonged drought episodes in the previous decades mainly due to climate change. 

“Our glaciers in the Himalayas are melting faster causing floods  and  drought in parts of the country. This is not the fault of Pakistan but other countries are impacting Pakistan through their carbon emissions, which are disproportionately impacting the poor communities. At the COP, we try to remind those nations about the damage due to their carbon emissions,” he added.

Pakistan, he said, will have to establish its projects and align them with global climate agenda to avail its benefits in the shape of climate resilience.  On the fossil fuel phase out and phase down, Syed Naveed Qamar stressed  the need for a dialogue between the fossil fuel producers and the consumers because ultimately there is need to find a way-out of transition which cannot be achieved overnight.” 

Qamar further stressed the need to hold dialogue first and then planning and implementation for a phase-out of fossil fuel. “Dialogue is needed and nobody can impose one’s own conditions. The countries that put the planet in a fix should now listen to those who are at the receiving end of the climate disasters,” he maintained.