ECO welcomes you all to Dubai – The City of Gold. 

Let’s go on a treasure hunt to find the most ambitious COP outcome possible. Ready? Set? Go!

Hopefully you’re not afraid of heights, whether skyscrapers or the mountain of things left to conclude in two weeks. The risk of distractions is just as high. It would appear that a real treasure hunt is underway with negotiators having to find their way through the labyrinth of corridors, press rooms and agenda items provided, not to mention the hundreds of pledges and initiatives that promise to land all at once.

To successfully find the treasure, ECO has prepared recommendations for all delegates. Here are a few tips and clues to help you sift through the pile, get the treasure, and reach a successful outcome at COP28. 

Delegates and Heads of States: you need to know that he key to securing the grand prize is not about solitary announcements and isolated initatives, but rather about real and transformative solutions that will be enshrined in the final decision. 

1. Find an Ambitious, Just and Equitable Energy package

Such a package calls for a fair, fast, full and funded phase-out of all fossil fuels. And, yes, it includes gas too.
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ECO is getting some “déjà-vu” vibes arriving in Dubai. Not just because the desert atmosphere reminds us of last year’s COP.

ECO spent some time analyzing the draft text on carbon removals that the article 6.4 Supervisory Body has submitted to the CMA for adoption. Just like last year, ECO feels the draft is more likely to remove ambition than carbon dioxide. It is definitely not ready for negotiators to adopt the text.

The proposal is longer and more detailed than last year and several elements have been improved. But it still very much requires taking a leap of faith on putting the future of this crucial ruleset in the hands of a small group of experts operating away from the spotlight of the COP.

The list of problematic elements in the draft submitted is barely shorter than in 2022. The definition of removals keeps the door wide open for risky practices, such as counting products as safe storage for CO2. The reversal risk assessment tool is simply non-existent at this stage, despite the fact that the draft rules rely heavily on its application. So are the buffer pool arrangements. 

The postcrediting monitoring period is a welcome addition that goes further than common practice in carbon markets so far, but it remains open-ended with the possibility of it being a very short period depending on what future rules will be adopted.
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ECO asked the Egyptian Presidency to stop be brave and ask for a date, but what a disaster its second cover decision date has turned out to be. Much like a date that drags on for hours, the lengthy text (8400 words and 20 pages!) had us nearly falling asleep. And after the hesitation of the last few days left us wondering if the Presidency was ghosting us, we were disappointed when Egypt showed up unable to define the relationship, demonstrating no clear vision with this text. This needs to change. Unlike a teenager in their first relationship, ECO expects the COP presidency to take real responsibility.

When ECO called for bold moves from the Presidency, we weren’t expecting cover decision language comparable to a poorly executed french kiss from someone who had been smoking fossil fuels. As a bare minimum the COP27 must not backslide from the Glasgow language on 1.5°C and fossil fuels.The G20 communiqué has opened an opportunity in particular to commit high emitting economies to 1.5°C, and opens the way to agree an ambitious and historic loss and damage finance facility outcome at this COP27.

ECO hears that by the time you get your hands on this, we might already have a new text.
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We can’t leave COP27 without a decision text committing nations to equitably phasing out all oil, gas, and coal–the perpetrators of the climate emergency. Luckily, the race is on to name and shame fossil fuels in the final decision text.

First out the gate was the EU and AILAC which went beyond the Glasgow decision text to call for the phase out of all fossil fuels–not just coal, but also oil and gas. The UK also called for transitioning away from fossil fuels.

Tuvalu made a similar clarion call for the decision text to explicitly include an unqualified phase out of all fossil fuels. No ifs, buts, or ands. These are the sole calls for text that aligns with the 1.5°C goal and firmly rejects false solutions like carbon capture which prolong the continued use of fossil fuels.

In a surprising set of announcements, India called for phasing down unabated fossil fuels. The US made a breakthrough move of supporting India’s call to phase down all unabated oil, gas, and coal. Norway followed suit. This represents the first time in COP history that major countries have recognized the need to end the world’s fossil fuel dependence.

But we need these calls to be firmly announced in black and white in the final decision text.
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As the COP comes to a close, one of the key issues is how fossil fuels will feature in the final text.

ECO joins campaigners and activists in demanding a decision text which calls for an equitable phase out of coal, oil and gas, without loophole language like “unabated” and “inefficient” which weaken the phase out requirements.
The decision will have important ramifications for Africa where activists have issued a clear message: “Don’t Gas Africa”. They join African leaders like Ruto in Kenya who called for a rapid and just transition and committed to 100% clean energy by 2030 powered by renewables.

Despite these calls, a small group of gas exporting ministers have colluded with the oil and gas industry to pretend that gas expansion is necessary for Africa’s energy access, development, and transition. In reality, the opposite is true.
The best way to deliver energy access to the 650 million Africans already being failed by fossil fuels is to rapidly scale up our commitment to renewable energy solutions. The worst way would be to invest in new fossil infrastructure which takes decades to come online, is predominately for export purposes, and doesn’t serve rural communities.

The best way to deliver development for Africans is to focus on building out distributed renewable energy systems which put energy ownership in the hands of communities and local businesses.
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Once upon a time, some empires rose and spread out through the world. They came to lands which already had rich histories and cultures. They came when the rivers were clear and the forests were dense and they saw opportunity in the wealth of the land. So, they took the land and fractured the people. They stole the wealth and burned the forests. They poisoned the rivers and the skies and they continued to do so until the seas rose, the skies turned red, the lands dried and storms became angrier. All this, whilst they continued to become rich. Now is the time to support those who are suffering from these impacts they did not cause. Now is the time for a Loss and Damage Finance Fund/Facility (the name doesn’t matter, the principles do – new, additional, adequate, predictable, needs-, grants-based) as requested by the G77 and China.

The last two dystopian weeks (plus three decades) the people have been shouting for finance to address Loss and Damage and have united as never before. Our friends from the EU who are listening and engaging but publicly toeing the same line as the lone US. The US remains the biggest obstacle to this long-sought climate justice.
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Do you ever feel some countries sound like a broken record? Yesterday, ECO had that feeling…

Once again, some countries have been pushing to include REDD+ under the Article 6.2 mechanism in the cover decision text. But old REDD+ credits aren’t new ITMOs, and no exceptions should be made for skipping the reporting and review process.

ECO wants to join the broken record party with this old tune: “♫ Just because … you have a license to drive a car… doesn’t mean… you can drive a plane…♫”. And it looks like some new countries also want to jump in that plane!

ECO also knows that additionality and permanence for avoided deforestation are hard to prove, and that the climate crisis makes permanence dodgy at best. So, here’s a new song for you:

“REDD, REDD whine, it’s up to you,
All I can do, I’ve done
Memories won’t go, memories won’t go

…. please let me be alone,
It’s tearing apart ambition in article 6”.

Remember when you went to the desert and got lost and then some friendly wise owls advised you on how to go back…you may ask, owls in the desert? Yes! The owls are the International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion and you are lost.

Today we see leadership and hope as a group of champion countries, led by the small, vulnerable and ambitious island nation of Vanuatu, brings the world’s biggest problem to the highest global court! There is no climate justice without human rights. Vanuatu is seeking an Advisory Opinion from the International Court of Justice to clarify the legal obligation of states to protect the rights of present and future generations against the adverse effects of climate change. Encourage your governments to VOTE YES at the UNGA when this resolution is tabled! This will spur ambition and action for the next COP. This will be our beacon of truth to ensure states live up to the meaning of the Paris Agreement. With hope, the people united will never be defeated.