The Paris Climate Agreement is ‘Dead,’ Declares Former Top UN Delegate

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by Michael Bastasch

 

Saudi Arabia’s former lead delegate to United Nations climate talks said the Paris agreement to fight global warming is “dead,” ending what he called a “big conspiracy the world created.”

Mohammed Salim Al Sabban, also a former adviser to Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, celebrated what he called the unofficial “death” of the Paris accord.

“Are you still following the dead Paris Agreement?” Al Sabban tweeted in response to former New York Times write Andrew Revkin.

“They will go from one meeting to another forever till it’s officially announced its death. Don’t be selective when you attack the Saudi UNFCCC position. It is unfair,” Al Sabban wrote.

Revkin was commenting on news that the U.S., Saudi Arabia, Russia and Kuwait refused to “welcome” the findings of a U.N. climate report released in October. The report said carbon dioxide emissions would need to decline 45 percent by 2030 to avoid warming greater than 1.5 degrees Celsius.

“It proves my opinion about this big conspiracy the world created and now it’s been killed,” Al Sabban said. Sabban later tweeted that “conspiracy” he referred to was “the current persisting deadlock in the process.”

While it’s unclear if the Paris accord, which was agreed to by nearly 200 countries, is effectually dead, there are some signs the agreement is beginning to fray at the edges.

For example, Brazil declined to host next year’s U.N. climate talks at the behest of President-elect Jair Bolsonaro, who’s been called the “Trump of the Tropics.” Environmentalists are worried Bolsonaro could join Trump in withdrawing from the Paris accord.

Riots erupted across France over a planned increase in fuel taxes as part of French President Emmanuel Macron’s global warming crusade. Macron, initially resistant to compromise, backed down Wednesday and canceled the tax increases set for January.

Saudi Arabia, who Al Sabban formerly represented, effectively asked the U.N. to push back any debate on furthering commitments aimed at fighting global warming. Saudi Arabia, the U.S. and Russia are the world’s top three producers of oil and natural gas.

Al Sabban said he was “personally happy” to have helped end the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the body that handles environment and climate issues.

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Michael Bastasch is a reporter for the Daily Caller News Foundation. Follow Michael on Facebook and Twitter.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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