The first dental appointment can be scary enough. But just think about the follow-up class when the person in white with a mask leans over and looks down at you and asks: – Yes, how has it been here since the last time, then? This is precisely the status of the world’s countries’ climate work. Right now in the hottest year ever, it is ready for the biggest UN climate conference ever. The countries of the world must look each other in the eye eight years after the Paris Agreement and report climate targets and statistics. The dentist’s chair is located on the edge of an Arabian desert. The surroundings are the fantasy world of reality in Dubai. It smells of growth and prosperity, consumption and progress. World leaders, activists, diplomats, businesses and journalists have flown in from all over the globe. Over 90,000 accreditation ribbons will be distributed. Status: Too little has been done, and what is planned is not enough. The world’s climate action is going too slowly. Dot. Or quite a few exclamation points. What is the climate summit, and what will happen this year Heavy, slow, complex When you stand in line here to get hold of such a bond, it seems as if everyone arrived at about the same time. It’s slow here in the queue. Just as with the real work of reducing all countries’ greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, it is for the same reason. International diplomacy, the ability of countries to cooperate, is a heavy, slow and complex piece of machinery. It is with this realization that the crazy climate summit must be understood. It is good that the countries are coming together. It is good that people agree that greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced. It should have gone faster. What is done and promised is not enough. This year’s climate summit is an important intermediate station between the Paris Agreement and a climate policy that produces sufficient results because: It is the first time that all countries have to report what has happened since Paris. It is the first time a climate fund for poor countries has been formalized and filled with money. The countries have never been closer to finding common language and commitments for less fossil energy production. The Paris summit in 2015 was an epoch-changing milestone, a climate political before and after, because the countries agreed on what the problem is and that it must be solved. Later, both a more legal framework and a willingness to look at individual emissions in general, and the energy sector in particular, pushed forward. Now more concretization is needed in the machinery that should have gone faster. The check-in queue for the huge exhibition hall is a nice reminder of how many countries, political cultures, economies, interests, languages, cultures and religions are, after all, all cogs in the machinery. And that explains why the process and queue are slow. Photo: Milana Knezevic / Milana Knežević/ news The Norwegian wisdom stand There he is! The candy manufacturer doesn’t just bring Milk Chocolate and Twist to the dentist. Jonas Gahr Støre comes with climate change money, rainforest figures and confidence in his pockets. Some of the countries might want to call him a war profiteer and greenhouse gas profiteer and worse. Oil-rich Norway arrives at the conference with a customary balance exercise. Our big, bad tooth is oil and gas production. Even if we balance climate finance with one leg and oil production with another, it is easy to see Norway as a country with both legs firmly planted in our energy production and oil revenues. Norway, like all other countries, must realize that what should come out of this summit are concrete and binding formulations that fossil energy should be phased out. The rest of this transition will not happen by itself. Although it is not Norway’s message, it seems as if we are taking a very long-term view of the process. In Norwegian, it is more comfortable to talk about scaling up renewable energy, rather than how the downscaling of fossil energy should take place. The dispute that will culminate in the back rooms of the giant Expo exhibition center outside Dubai concerns Norway to the highest degree: Should fossil energy production be gradually reduced, or phased down, phased out or completely and indisputably phased out? Should there be a deadline or an ambition? Norway and the EU agree that phasing out fossil energy without purification technology is something that must be worked towards. The world needs the clearest possible binding agreement text from Dubai. Both the UN Secretary-General and British King Charles have emphasized this to world leaders. King Charles III of Great Britain speaks at the climate summit in Dubai Significant Norwegian contributions The Dubai summit has already landed a climate fund. It is good. The meeting will probably meet commitments on climate change and increased renewable production. It is necessary. What happens with the fossil formulation is more in the blue. Although that is the most important thing. Norway’s Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide (Ap) leads the negotiations on important parts of the final agreement from the summit. Photo: Lars Nehru Sand / news Because there has never been more urgency. We have never had more knowledge. And the global discussion has never been as concrete and acute as now. Some countries must lead the way. All countries must show willingness and ability. The Fossil formulation is where it hurts the most. Where the interests and considerations are greatest. Just look at the domestic debate. Støre wants to say on the inhale and exhale that Norway is in the middle of an energy transition towards more renewables and more energy efficiency. He will talk about carbon capture and electrification. He probably cannot get over the fact that Norway is internationally in a position where we can easily be accused of riding two horses at the same time. It must be better than putting the climate horse in the stable, but not without paradoxes. The government travels to Dubai with confidence, not shame. – A bad conscience does not motivate, says the Prime Minister to news. The Norwegian position is that in a global context even a Norwegian climate debate will be progressive, and that Norway can vouch for the fossil fuel formulations that may come. In addition, we contribute significantly with financing. Both rainforest funds and climate damage funds for poor countries sit loose at the conference. Norway is spitting NOK 270 million into a climate fund for poor countries, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre announced in the Norwegian plenary address at COP28. – There is no time to lose, concluded the Prime Minister. Photo: Lars Nehru Sand / news The latest is a significant breakthrough in the climate fight already on the first day of the conference. Poor countries, especially island states, live with the life-threatening consequences of climate change. Other countries are experiencing acute challenges such as floods and droughts. The money from rich countries must not be understood as an indulgence. The USA has also been concerned that it is not a “replacement” and has therefore been critical of the name “Tap and damage fund”. Norway’s significant contribution can be seen as an extension of our long-standing, important rainforest programme. The countries of the world have now both agreed on the fund and have started to fill it with money. It brings out a white smile early in the dental appointment. But this year’s summit is also a reminder of what characterizes many dental classes. It’s expensive and it hurts. But the most expensive and painful thing is to postpone things. Photo: Lars Nehru Sand / news UN climate summit in Dubai Climate negotiation meeting held in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates from 30 November to 12 December. Around 180 heads of state and government are expected to attend the summit days on 1 and 2 December. Among them is Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre (Ap). Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide (Ap) leads Norway’s delegation when Støre is not present. In addition, Climate and Environment Minister Andreas Bjelland Eriksen (Ap) and Development Minister Anne Beathe Tvinnereim (Sp) will attend the meeting. Oil and Energy Minister Terje Aasland (Ap) is present for one day. Almost every country in the world is involved in the negotiations. They largely concern the implementation of the climate agreement that was adopted in Paris in 2015. Organisations, press people and representatives of business will also be present. In total, more than 97,000 participants are expected, the highest number ever at a climate summit. The meeting is called Cop 28. The abbreviation stands for Conference of the Parties. The “Parties” are the countries that have signed the UN Climate Convention (UNFCCC). Similar meetings have been held almost every year since 1995. In recent years, the number of participants has increased sharply. (NTB)
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The dental class of the times – Speech
