On Wednesday, delegates from nearly 200 nations at the COP28 climate conference in Dubai released the final draft of a global agreement that solidifies the transition away from fossil fuels in order to avoid the most damaging effects of climate change.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the deal marked an important point in time: the end of the post-industrial age of human-caused emissions that are the main drivers of the climate crisis.
“Today’s agreement marks the beginning of the post-fossil era,” von der Leyen posted on social media.
President of COP28 Sultan al-Jaber called the deal “historic,” but emphasized implementation would be key.
“We are what we do, not what we say,” al-Jaber told the summit’s plenary gathering, as Reuters reported. “We must take the steps necessary to turn this agreement into tangible actions.”
Many expressed concern that the language of the deal was not strong enough for a swift and thorough transition.
“The countries of the world leave COP28 in Dubai with a consensus to transition away from fossil fuels, and in a world full of conflict, that is progress. This consensus may mark the beginning of the end of the road for fossil fuels. But we are gravely concerned that it does not take us far enough or fast enough to adequately address the climate crisis,” said Monica Medina, president and CEO of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), in a press release from WCS. “We cannot and must not let up now. The world must accelerate a just transition away from fossil fuels without any further delay — pedal to the metal.”
More than 100 countries present at the conference had fought for stronger “phaseout” language for oil, gas and coal, facing off against the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which argued global emissions could be reduced without excluding particular sources of energy, reported Reuters.
“The influence of petrostates is still evident in the half measures and loopholes included in the final agreement,” said Al Gore, former U.S. vice president and founder of the nonprofit Climate Reality Project, as Reuters reported.
OPEC nations control almost 80 percent of the oil reserves in the world, as well as around a third of global oil production, which their governments depend on for profits.
The text of the agreement calls for “transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems, in a just, orderly and equitable manner… so as to achieve net zero by 2050 in keeping with the science,” reported Reuters.
The phaseout language had been pushed by small-island nations seeking to protect their vulnerable communities against the sea level rise that is one of the hallmarks of global heating. Other countries like European Union member states, Norway, Canada and the United States supported the stronger wording.
“We have made an incremental advancement over business as usual, when what we really need is an exponential step change in our actions,” said Anne Rasmussen, Alliance of Small Island States’ lead negotiator, as Reuters reported.
Others agreed, voicing that the absence of more specific language meant enforcement would be difficult.
“At long last the loud calls to end fossil fuels have landed on paper in black and white at this COP, but cavernous loopholes threaten to undermine this breakthrough moment,” said Jean Su, energy justice director with the Center for Biological Diversity, in a press release from the grassroots environmental organization. “While this agreement offers faint guidelines toward a clean energy transition, it falls far short of the transformational action we need.”
“The fight to end oil, gas and coal must now be taken up at the country level with the United States leading the way by halting new fossil fuel project approvals and setting a strong nationally determined contribution for next year’s COP29,” Su said.
The agreement also calls on governments to triple the world’s renewable energy capacity by 2030 while accelerating the reduction of coal, as well as speeding up the development of carbon capture and storage and other technologies, reported Reuters. Critics of carbon capture say it is still unproven at scale, expensive and can be used as a justification for continued oil drilling.
Zhao Yingmin, China’s vice environment minister, pointed out that the most action must come from the world’s richest countries, which have contributed an outsized amount to the climate crisis.
“Developed countries have unshirkable historical responsibilities for climate change,” Yingmin said, following approval of the deal, as Reuters reported.
As the contribution of renewables to the overall global power mix continues to grow, 80 percent of energy worldwide still comes from fossil fuels.
“This agreement contains major industry escape hatches for disastrous gas expansion, plastics proliferation and dangerous climate scams like carbon capture and storage,” Su said in the Center for Biological Diversity press release. “Getting ‘fossil fuels’ into the final decision is a win in process, but not in the practical fight for survival of life on Earth.”
While applauding the final COP28 climate deal, Rachel Cleetus, Union of Concerned Scientists’ policy director, said it didn’t ensure rich nations would give developing countries more financial assistance to help fund the transition from fossil fuels to renewables.
“The finance and equity provisions… are seriously insufficient and must be improved in the time ahead in order to ensure low- and middle-income countries can transition to clean energy and close the energy poverty gap,” Cleetus said, as reported by Reuters.
Medina reinforced that quick and specific action must be taken to mitigate the effects of climate change.
“COP28’s main purpose was to ensure our planet — being ravaged by the climate crisis — remains livable for generations to come. The outcome of the COP is a step in the right direction, but we need to move much more quickly,” Medina said. “The Dubai Consensus must lead to accelerated change in national action plans that much more clearly protect nature and include much more finance to deal with ongoing impacts of the climate crisis and an even greater role for Indigenous Peoples and other traditional communities. The fate of the world and future generations depends on it.”
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