Arab group wins (again) #FossiloftheDay at COP24 for being not okay with IPCC 1.5C report

Well the Arab Group is off to a great start this Conference of the Parties (COP) in Poland with a second fossil award.

This time it was for Kuwait wanting to delete specific references to findings in the IPCC 1.5°C Special Report in negotiations in the Warsaw International Mechanism (WIM) for Loss and Damage.

Saudi Arabia and the Arab Group scored a Fossil award yesterday for trying to kill ambition and prevent more transparency. Looks like we have a first candidate in this years race for the Colossal Fossil

Here is the official media release by Climate Action Network:


The Arab Group (Oops they did it again!)

Oh Ha-baby, Ha-baby!

Could it be a glitch in the matrix or a mirage in the desert?

Or is it our senses that are failing us in the smog?

But during negotiations here in Katowice we distinctly heard Kuwait proposing to delete specific references to the findings of the IPCC 1.5°C Special Report that were referenced by the Executive Committee during talks under the Warsaw International Mechanism on Loss and Damage. Apparently because they “are not okay with the report.”

The IPCC report vividly highlights the massive loss and damage that many countries and communities around the world already suffer as a result of climate change. This situation will be further exacerbated if the world fails to shift away from fossil fuels as a matter of urgency – cutting emissions fast and deep enough to stay within the 1.5°C limit.

We trust that progressive countries in the Arab group will find their voice and reassure us that it was indeed just a glitch.

Kuwait also blocked a proposed paragraph to encourage the ExCom to strengthen gender considerations in the implementation of the 5-year work plan. The Group was only willing to allow a women and youth to be mentioned as part of vulnerable populations.

It’s astounding that the Arab Group can claim that “there will be no difference between the impacts on men and women, and no difference between the impacts on developed and developing countries”. Those with the least resources, the least power and on whom society already places unfair burdens will be more impacted by climate change. Fact. And the UNFCCC already adopted gender decisions and a gender action plan. So there is just no reasonable argument to act in this way.

And by the way: Did we hear correctly that China supported these statements by Kuwait? We are not ‘okay with it’ if they did.

Ha-baby don’t do it again!

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