KUWAIT: Kuwait Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Salem Abdullah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah met his Omani counterpart Bader bin Hamad Al-Busaidi on the fringes of the 27th session of the GCC-EU Ministerial Council in Muscat on Monday. Both ministers reviewed the agenda topics of the GCC-EU ministerial, being held on October 9- 10, with emphasis on the item relating to the disinformation in the recent Iraqi Federal Supreme Court ruling against Khor Abdullah agreement. The discussions also dealt with the latest developments of the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories and ways to advance the GCC-EU strategic partnership.
Renewable energy
Meanwhile, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) ministers in charge of climate affairs said they encourage the efforts aimed at triple the production of renewable energy globally. This came in the final communiqué issued by the ministers at the end of their meeting in Riyadh on the sidelines of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Climate Week. The ministers affirmed that reaching this ratio comes through existing goals and policies and achieving it in other low- and zero-emission technologies, including source-control and removal technologies, in line with national conditions by 2030.
The communiqué indicated that the ministers stressed commitment to the principles and provisions of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement. They further emphasized full support for the UAE's hosting of the 2023 UN Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC COP 28), due in November. They agreed that the international community should avoid excluding major energy sources or neglecting to invest in them, which may lead to challenges in energy markets and an unequal impact, especially on developing societies and countries.
They called, at the same time, for adopting a "balanced approach" to boost global economic growth closely linked to energy security and availability. This can be achieved by taking advantage of various energy sources and working to achieve a transition to clean energy in a practical, gradual, and fair manner, it elaborated. The communiqué stressed the need to adopt a gradual and practical approach to realizing the targets of the Paris Agreement and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, taking into account the national conditions in each country and the availability of technological solutions.
To reach the carbon neutrality target, it requires leveraging zero-carbon solutions and carbon recycling technologies across economic sectors. The ministers highlighted the significance of the principles of climate agreements, notably those relating to equitability, sharing of responsibilities, and understanding of the national conditions of various countries. Those principles, besides the right of developing countries to sustainable development and a diversified economy, constitute the groundwork for climate action under the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement, according to the communiqué.
The ministers agreed that there are three basic elements for practical and logical transformations in energy: energy security, economic development, and climate change. They also highlighted the importance of adopting a comprehensive approach to technological solutions for mitigating the adverse impacts of climate change, investing in the production and storage of renewable energy, and recycling carbon. They urged scaling up the global effort to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
They underscored the importance of the industrialized countries' honoring the pledge to provide $100 billion annually for the developing countries to build resilience to adapt to the impacts of climate change. They expressed hope that the UN Climate Change Conference (COP28) would lead to ambitious outcomes for reactivating the UN fund for addressing the irreversible damage caused by climate change in developing countries, the communiqué added. - KUNA