A senior Saudi Arabian delegate has been accused of directly changing an official Cop29 negotiation text, the Guardian revealed.
The British newspaper said on Saturday that the document, typically circulated by Cop presidencies to member states as non-editable text, was sent with “track changes” from the previously shared version.
In two cases, the document showed edits made by Basel Alsubaity, a delegate from the Saudi Ministry of Energy and the lead on the Just Transition Work Programme (JTWP).
The JTWP aims to help countries transition to a cleaner and more resilient future while reducing inequalities.
The Guardian was told that no other countries were sent the document to edit.
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One of the changes made included removing a section of text that read: “Encourages parties to consider just transition pathways in developing and implementing NDCs [nationally determined contributions], NAPs [national adaptation plans] and LT-LEDs [long-term low emission development strategies] that are aligned with the outcome of the first global stock take and relevant provisions of the Paris Agreement.”
Saudi Arabia has been regarded by many as repeatedly posing obstacles to measures aimed at cutting the burning of fossil fuels at Cop conferences.
The kingdom was described as a “wrecking ball” at Cop29, with some experts and foreign officials saying it enjoys the backing of Azerbaijan, the host of this year’s conference.
This latest revelation comes after Albara Tawfiq, a Saudi official speaking on behalf of his country’s bloc, said that Arab states would oppose any climate deal that goes after fossil fuels in Baku.
Climate negotiators said the kingdom has actively worked to undermine efforts to renew last year’s historic pledge to transition away from fossil fuels despite previously agreeing to it.
Earlier this week, Hanen Keskes of Greenpeace MENA told Middle East Eye that Saudi Arabia was reportedly blocking the Mitigation Work Programme (MWP), a channel in the talks aimed at shifting away from fossil fuels.
“We have seen a really strong draft text here… that spoke about the transition from fossil fuels into renewable energy, and they just blocked that completely,” Andreas Sieber, associate director of policy and campaigns at anti-fossil fuel group 350.org, told MEE.
