What seemed impossible two weeks ago, when the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) began, was embodied this Tuesday in the final agreement of the summit. All parties agreed on the need to abandon fossil fuels.
The countries’ positions were very different, and arriving at a text that satisfied all parties was not an easy task. Al Jaber wanted this conference to be a turning point and it seems that he succeeded, as he did The path to eliminating fossil fuels begins This Wednesday in Dubai.
If at the Glasgow summit they were able to include coal in the text, they will do so this year And also gas and oil. An agreement that seemed like an illusion because the summit was held this year in the United Arab Emirates and with a strong presence of the oil lobbies.
When it was ten minutes past 11 a.m. in Dubai, the head of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28), Sultan Al Jaber, banged the gavel indicating that all parties agreed.
Spanish Minister of Environmental Transition, Teresa Ribera, tweeted the moment of applause for the agreement:
Formula for finding consensus
The presidency of the twenty-eighth session of the Conference of the Parties was announced just after 7am on Wednesday in Dubai The project was presented to the plenary session. New text haha He doesn’t talk about leaving, but rather “moving away.” from fossil fuels In a fair and organized way to speed up work In this critical decade to reach zero emissions by 2050, as science calls for.
This is the new formula that the negotiators found to open the most hesitant positions regarding getting rid of fossil fuels and get out of the impasse using language that satisfies all parties and without imposing any commitment.
Although it is not as ambitious as some countries wanted, it is It is the first time that a text from a climate summit has dared to say that we must end oil, gas and coal.
This text does not include the concept of complete elimination of fossil fuels, or the famous “phase-out”, which the oil-producing countries collectively opposed.
The formula that has been reached for reaching an agreement is to reduce emissions in the proportions and times that scientists are talking about in order to reach neutrality in 2050 and to do so by transitioning towards a fossil fuel-free economy. .
The latter text is also suggested:
“Triple global renewable energy capacity, accelerate efforts to phase out the use of coal-based energy without mitigation systems, and accelerate and significantly reduce non-CO2 greenhouse gas emissions, in particular methane emissions, by 2030, or phase out “As soon as possible ‘ineffective’ fossil fuel subsidies that do not address energy poverty or just transitions.”
All parties are called into a plenary session at 10:30 a.m. at COP28, where nearly 200 countries will have to give their consent.
The European Union appreciates it positively
The Minister of Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, highlighted that this draft contains two important messages regarding energy decoupling. The first is that “everyone must do their part and identify paths to achieve a 1.5 climate security-compliant response.”
Ribera explains that the text suggests that “we must leave fossil fuels behind,” and believes there are many very relevant references on how to do this, andThey are laying the foundations for a new phase.
European Commissioner for Climate Action, Wopke Hoekstra, described the agreement as a “historic decision.”
Greenpeace sees improvements there
Pedro Zorrilla, spokesman for Greenpeace, believes that this text is still not the resolution that the world needs and deserves, but there are improvements compared to the previous text and Yes, there is a call to transition away from fossil fuels, and this is a positive thing. However, he warns that there are also calls for false solutions and dangerous deviations that will not help the sustainable energy transition away from climate change.
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