Lead Pacific negotiator slams COP28 agreement for 'litany of loopholes'

Representatives of Pacific Island states have slammed the outcome of the UN climate change summit COP28, after the deal was concluded while they were away from the meeting.

The Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), criticised the deal as unambitious and complained that its representatives had not been in the plenary meeting room at Dubai’s Expo City, when COP28 President Sultan Al Jaber declared a consensus on the wording that had been reached.

Dr Al Jaber, who had been a controversial choice for president because he also heads up a United Arab Emirates' national oil company, described the deal as historic and that it would bring “transformational change”.

Watch Executive Secretary Simon Stiell's Speech at the Closing of COP28:

In his closing remarks at COP28, which concluded late on Thursday (Dubai time), Dr Al Jaber said: “We have helped store faith and trust in multilateralism, and we have shown that humanity can come together. You did step up, you showed flexibility, you put common interest ahead of self-interest."

However, the lead negotiator for the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), Samoa’s Anne Rasmussen, told the meeting: “It seems that you just gavelled the decisions and the small island developing states were not in the room.”

“We were working hard to coordinate the 39 small island states, developing states that are disproportionately affected by climate change, and so we were delayed in arriving here,” she said.

Rasmuseen said that “the course correction that is needed has not been secured”, with the deal representing business-as-usual instead of exponential emissions-cutting efforts.

“We have made an incremental advancement over business-as-usual, when what we really needed is an exponential step change in our actions and support.

She said the deal could “potentially take us backward rather than forward” and that there were a “litany of loopholes” in the final agreement.

“It does not deliver on a subsidy phaseout, and it does not advance us beyond the status quo,” she said.

“We do not see any commitment or even an invitation for parties to peak emissions by 2025. It is not enough for us to reference the science and then make agreements that ignore what the science is telling us we need to do. This is not an approach that we should be asked to defend.”

Watch video by Guardian News of Samoa’s Anne Rasmussen's speech:

The official COP28 statement heralded the agreement as “beginning of the end” of the fossil fuel era by laying the ground for a swift, just and equitable transition, underpinned by deep emissions cuts and scaled-up finance.

The statement said the outcome of the 13-day summit had been a demonstration of global solidarity, negotiators from nearly 200 parties came together in Dubai with a decision on the world’s first “global stocktake” to ratchet up climate action before the end of the decade – with the overarching aim to keep the global temperature limit of 1.5°C within reach.

But a negotiator from the Marshall Islands, John Silk, told reporters that an earlier draft marked a "death warrant" for his Pacific archipelago, which is just 2.1 metres above sea level.

Silk likened the final agreement to a "canoe with a weak and leaky hull, full of holes" but added: "We have to put it into the water because we have no other option."

RNZ Pacific reported that Pacific Islands Climate Action Network regional coordinator Lavetanalagi Seru said the outcome had signalled that "the days of the fossil fuel industry is numbered" but again was only an incremental step in the right direction.

"This outcome continues to allow for dangerous distractions and loopholes, such as carbon capture, nuclear, and removal technologies, and weakening language on gender, human rights, indigenous rights, which is deeply disappointing."

In his closing speech at COP28, UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell said that while “we didn’t turn the page on the fossil fuel era in Dubai, this outcome is the beginning of the end”.

“Now all governments and businesses need to turn these pledges into real-economy outcomes, without delay,” he said.

The global stocktake is considered the central outcome of COP28 – as it contains every element that was under negotiation and can now be used by countries to develop stronger climate action plans due by 2025.

The stocktake recognises the science that indicates global greenhouse gas emissions need to be cut 43 per cent by 2030, compared to 2019 levels, to limit global warming to 1.5°C.

But stocktake notes parties are off track when it comes to meeting their Paris Agreement goals.

The stocktake calls on parties to take actions towards achieving, at a global scale, a tripling of renewable energy capacity and doubling energy efficiency improvements by 2030.

The list also includes accelerating efforts towards the phase-down of unabated coal power, phasing out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies, and other measures that drive the transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems, in a just, orderly and equitable manner, with developed countries continuing to take the lead.

In the short-term, parties are encouraged to come forward with ambitious, economy-wide emission reduction targets, covering all greenhouse gases, sectors and categories and aligned with the 1.5°C limit in their next round of climate action plans (known as nationally determined contributions) by 2025.

The negotiations on the “enhanced transparency framework” at COP28 laid the ground for a new era of implementing the Paris Agreement.

UN Climate Change is developing the transparency reporting and review tools for use by Parties, which were showcased and tested at COP28. The final versions of the reporting tools should be made available to parties by June 2024.

COP28 also saw parties agree to Azerbaijan as host of COP29 from 11-22 November 2024, and Brazil as COP30 host from 10-21 November 2025.

At COP29, governments must establish a new climate finance goal, reflecting the scale and urgency of the climate challenge.

And at COP30, they must come prepared with new nationally determined contributions that are economy-wide, cover all greenhouse gases and are fully aligned with the 1.5°C temperature limit.

Stiel said: “We must get on with the job of putting the Paris Agreement fully to work. In early 2025, countries must deliver new nationally determined contributions. Every single commitment – on finance, adaptation, and mitigation – must bring us in line with a 1.5-degree world.”

His final message was aimed at “ordinary people everywhere raising their voices for change”.

“Every one of you is making a real difference. In the crucial coming years your voices and determination will be more important than ever. I urge you never to relent. We are still in this race. We will be with you every single step of the way.”

During his closing speech COP28 President Dr Al Jaber said the world needed to find a new way.

“By following our North Star, we have found that path. We have worked very hard to secure a better future for our people and our planet. We should be proud of our historic achievement.”