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LAST UPDATE | 11 Dec 2023
A DRAFT DEAL at COP28 will not be accepted by the EU unless significant changes are made, Minister for Climate Eamon Ryan has said.
Countries have been negotiating for nearly two weeks at a UN climate conference on major decisions about efforts to try to thwart climate change, including the need to cut fossil fuel use.
But the deal is at risk of falling apart, with former US Vice President Al Gore saying the conference is “on the verge of complete failure”.
The latest version of a decision text, which has gone through several drafts as countries tussle over how far they will be expected to go, has deleted language in previous drafts about phasing out fossil fuels.
Instead, the current draft recognises the need to reduce emissions and calls upon countries to take actions that “could include” “reducing both consumption and projection of fossil fuels, in a just, orderly and equitable manner so as to achieve net zero by, before or around 2050 in keeping with the science”.
A previous draft had set out three options for what the final version might include around fossil fuels. One was a call for an “orderly and just phase out of fossil fuels”, while another was for “accelerating efforts towards phasing out unabated fossil fuels and to rapidly reducing their use so as to achieve net-zero CO2 in energy systems by or around mid-century”. The final option was that no item would be included on the matter.
The distinction between phasing out or phasing down has been seen as highly important as it means the difference between a specific call to fully cut out fossil fuels, or a vaguer one that puts much weaker obligation on countries.
However, this latest draft text sidesteps that debate entirely by referring only to “reducing” fossil fuels.
Minister Eamon Ryan, who is on the ground at the conference — though not a lead negotiator on this text, which is known as the Global Stocktake — said that he does not expect this text will be accepted.
“We have to get an agreement but it won’t be on the basis of this text,” Ryan said.
He said the use of the phrase could include’ — meaning there would be no real obligation on countries to cut fossil fuels — “kills everything”.
“Even beneath that, down the line, it’s not strong enough. It raises real problems in a whole range of different ways.”
In the area of climate finance, he said there is “much missing” and “no real opening up of the possibility of wider sources of finance and reducing harmful sources of finance”.
Asked whether he would walk away from the deal if the text is not amended, he said: “If this doesn’t change, yes, it will not be accepted as the text.”
COP28 is now on the verge of complete failure. The world desperately needs to phase out fossil fuels as quickly as possible, but this obsequious draft reads as if OPEC dictated it word for word. It is even worse than many had feared. It is “Of the Petrostates, By the Petrostates…
— Al Gore (@algore) December 11, 2023
EU climate commissioner Wopke Hoekstra said this afternoon that there are “a couple of good things in there, but overall it is clearly insufficient and not adequate to addressing the problem we are here to address”.
As the COP meets, many parts of the world are already facing devastating impacts of climate change.
If global average temperatures rise by 1.5 degrees, the world “faces unavoidable multiple climate hazards” in the next 20 years, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Exceeding a 1.5 degree rise, even temporarily, would lead to “additional severe impacts, some of which will be irreversible”.
Along with the EU, small island states and the US have called for the final deal to have more specific demands on fossil fuel use.
Chair of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) Toeolesulusulu Cedric Schuster said: ”We feel our voices are not being heard, while it appears that several other parties have enjoyed preferential treatment, compromising the transparency and inclusivity of the process.”
A US State Department spokesperson said that the “mitigation section, including the issue of fossil fuels, needs to be substantially strengthened, and the finance section contains inaccuracies that must be fixed”.
At least me dole and chilrens alowence is up so dat’ll offset some of cost for me ciggies. De kids will go hungry be4 I give up me Johnny Blus!
@Tweety McTweeter: How much will the tax on ancient stereotypes have to go up before you’ll break the habit?
@Neal Ireland Hello.: how much does the tax on snowflake reality rejectors have to go up before it takes effect
Stop smoking altogether! Can’t be bothered with the arguments it’ll hit lower income society! Don’t smoke then it won’t
@Gavin: yes give up if you can. I just worked out I save 167.00 on the additional tax alone. Next step stop my addiction to sugar by giving that up.
Just smoke weed instead it’s great.
@Craic head: good man, keep the Kinihens in business and guns on the street
Strange that this can be brought in over night, yet anything useful waits until the end of the year. Pity they can’t be this productive on a daily basis!
It should be put up by € 10 actually if not more. Major cause of hospital admissions due to smoking related diseases.
@Deirdre D’Arcy Murphy: and the huge tax smokers pay offsets the cost.
@Deirdre D’Arcy Murphy: They won’t, as if people quit smoking and drinking, they’re screwed! If they really wanted people to quit, it’d be €50 a pack, but they need the money.
I’ve no intentions of quitting, sure I get them from abroad anyway.
@Joe Travers: and wait until you see the final days of your / they’re lives due to smoking -shocking.
@Deirdre D’Arcy Murphy: I’m sure a pensioner who has smoked all their lives and paid taxes really deserves that.
Think before you talk Deirdre, it’s ok for someone working but if that’s all a pensioner looks forward too, I think that sort of an increase is disgusting. And im an ex smoker.
@Deirdre D’Arcy Murphy: no one will buy and all trade will be done black market, most of it is now anyway. Polish and Chinese smokes are available for €25 a carton (200)
Im approximately 18 months cigarette free.
Personally I find these increases disgraceful.
I’m not one of these ex smokers that blab such s€€€ like “each one of them takes bla bla off you life” or eugh their disgusting.
Surprised.
The reason why I find this increase disgraceful is 1/ The amount of tax imposed on the product by the government and 2/ Pensioners, some of them have worked hard all their lives and now live on the state pension, these increases are alright for a working person but the pensioner will go without an item such as clothing or heating to get their cigarettes.
So to all you ex or anti smokers who gloat about this, think a little harder not harsher.
At least we’ll get some of that welfare rise back….
The people selling smokes on the street will love this as they are going to have a lot more cash in their pockets.
12 euro a pack? I would expect each cigarette to be laced with cocaine for that kind of money.
Every year its the same targets…why not put the price of a pint up to €12…alcohol is more a problem in this country than smoking. If someone wants to smoke its their choice. Whoever keeps saying to put up the price of cigarettes obvioulys never worked in hotels. This country is a joke!! Its already the most expensive for everything…they will just start turning tourists away next!
Gave up the flags on the 20th Feb, haven’t saved a penny, what ever I spent on fags I now eat that amount extra and more lol, as far as I am concerned they didn’t put them up enough, put a €5 increase on them and ban public smoking everywhere, hell just ban smoking, and if anyone caught selling on the black market it’s 20 years minimum
@Mick Hannigan: vote for mick “the ban” hannigan
@Mick Hannigan: that’s just silly talk
@Andrew Mockler: also ban you from commenting lol :)
@jagmerc: get back in your sad box
@Mick Hannigan: very arsh, Mick, very arsh.
Time to quit smoking i think,not going to pay 12 euro for a packet of cigarettes. 100 euro a week over the next 9 months would give me a nice family holiday.
@Doung O Driscoll: The book is very good and works for many people . The pharma industry is inclined to highlight the difficulty with nicotine addiction in order to push more nicotine via patches,chewing gum and what have you but the book will make you laugh and once you close the book you don’t even want to smoke -
@Doung O Driscoll: I gave them up when they put Benson and Hedges up to 1.50 a packet….f
eck it I said, I aint payi g that, and havnt had a fag since all those years ago now
I am off them nearly a year . Up a few lbs but happy i did it .
€0.60 a cigarette now with six puffs per cigarette equating to 10cent per puff.
Very few smokers left now – either in the ground or quit
I last my job last month. I was in the social welfare office to arrange payment of an overpayment last year when I started work, and I told them when they asked that I didn’t expect to be entitled to dole sice I quit a job but I was encouraged to, as it could stand against me to have a gap. Somebody like me shouldn’t be getting the dole. I quit my job!
@M: idiot
@M: If you feel bad about it you could always give the money to a charity or homeless shelter and live on fresh air until you find another job.
Baxtards.
They’ll never force me to quit, never! I love me fags i do.
Value the health of our nation,by taxing everything to the fking hilt.
They could make a tax of € 0.05 per posted comment and €0.01 per thumbs up on the journal.ie and eliminate cigarette, soft drink and likely liquor and ale tales, plus no water charges. Surely that would work out?
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