Olielande kæmper hårdnakket for at udvande historisk COP-aftale

When the world community was able to present the first ever COP agreement to move the world away from fossil fuels last year, it was described as a historic moment. But now the whir of the wings can stop. At this year's climate summit, the agreement could result in a step backwards for the transition away from coal, oil and gas.

A coalition of 22 Arab countries as well as developing countries such as Uganda are fighting hard to phase out the ambitions of the agreement, and they refuse to sign an agreement that will phase out fossil fuels - even though it was decided last year.

- The Arab group will not accept any text that affects specific sectors, including fossil fuels, a spokesman said, according to the AFP news agency.

The opposition to the results from last year is causing concern in the Western delegations. The EU and Denmark strike hard again

- This is the big problem, and it is head-shaking that we have to restart the discussions we had last year, said climate minister Lars Aagaard (M) on Thursday.

- We have a fairly hard line there.

Concito: Announcements should probably be taken with a grain of salt

However, there may be reason to take oil reports and concerns with a grain of salt. This is the assessment of Jens Mattias Clausen, responsible for the COP negotiations at the think tank Concito.

He has previously been an adviser in the Danish delegation, and to some extent he sees the message from the Arab countries as rhetoric. It is Saudi Arabia that leads the way in the report.

- And they have a bad habit of speaking on behalf of the Arab group without asking the other countries if they agree.

The group includes, for example, the Emirates, which last year hosted the decision on fossil phase-out, and they will probably want to hold on to the diplomatic victory it was.

It must also be remembered that the agreement from last year is not canceled just because the word fossil fuels does not appear in this year's text. The dealers can therefore make some puns in the last hours that preserve the ambitions.

- It may well be that you don't mention it in exactly the way that Saudi Arabia doesn't want, but as long as you reaffirm what you agreed on last year, it means that you still have an agreement to phase out fossil fuels, says Jens Mattias Clausen.

- You can't just remove it again, because it has been decided.

/ritzau/