WE MEAN BUSINESS COALITION’S RESPONSE TO DRAFT GLOBAL STOCKTAKE TEXT AT COP28
As the policy negotiations enter their final hours at COP28, We Mean Business Coalition offers a brief analysis and response to elements in the latest draft text.
María Mendiluce, CEO, We Mean Business Coalition said:
“This draft is extremely concerning.
The lack of agreed actions to phase out fossil fuels and invest in clean energy leaves us with a meaningless wishlist of optional actions.
Offering countries a range of options that they ‘could’ engage with is a huge backwards step and does not send the clear signal business needs to supercharge the transformation and keep 1.5ºC within reach, as the COP Presidency has committed to.
From a draft with four options on fossil fuel phaseout to a draft with zero, I also question the process and who are they listening to. The world deserves transparency on how decisions are taken.
Are we really going to risk our future on a shopping list? The world ‘could’ have decided to act after COP1 in 1995. Yet here we are, three decades later, still finding ways for countries with vested interests of their fossil fuel industries to ignore the science and dodge the urgency of addressing the primary source of emissions: burning fossil fuels.
We urge all countries to reject this latest draft. If they are serious about listening to the science, they will only agree a COP outcome that reflects the need for countries to work towards the phaseout of fossil fuels.
Remaining within 1.5ºC is not a nice to have, it is a must have. COP28 must deliver a set of science-based actions in response to the Global Stocktake, that can take all countries back on track in delivering the Paris Agreement.”