The draft agreement calling for a gradual transition from fossil fuels was approved at the United Nations Climate Conference (COP28) held in Dubai.
News on BBC According to COP28 President Sultan al-Jaber, the agreement offers a ‘comprehensive response’ to climate change and represents a ‘robust action plan to keep 1.5 degrees achievable’. As many conference participants requested in the agreement text, Countries are called to abandon the use of fossil fuels in their energy systems. The text acknowledges that deep, rapid and sustained reductions are needed to limit temperature increases to 1.5C. The fact that fossil fuels were mentioned for the first time in the agreement was considered important by most of the negotiators. Reporting from COP28, BBC Climate Correspondent Esme Stallard summarized the changes in the agreement text as follows:
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“Can Contribute” instead of “Can Undertake”: The old text said that countries could “undertake” a series of actions. The text now ‘calls on countries to contribute’.
“Switching” instead of “reducing”: The previous draft stated that countries could reduce both consumption and production of fossil fuels. It now calls on countries to ‘contribute to a gradual transition away from fossil fuels in their energy systems.’
Emissions peak: The final draft stated that greenhouse gas emissions should peak by 2025 to limit global warming to 1.5C. However, the new draft says that it accepts that scientific modeling estimates that emissions will peak by 2025.
different timings: There is a new text in which it is accepted that all countries should not be expected to start reducing their emissions at the same time, and that this depends on the level of development of the countries. “Developing countries were demanding such a definition because of the different economic conditions they face.”
European Commission Commissioner for Combating the Climate Crisis, Wopke Hoekstra, said in a statement to the press when the agreement was in draft that the agreement “could be really important”. “For the first time in 30 years, we may be reaching the beginning of the end of fossil fuels,” Hoekstra said, referring to the first mention of fossil fuels in a COP text.
The draft, presented to the delegates by the host United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Monday, attracted reaction by being described as “extremely inadequate” and “inconsistent”. Negotiations continued until this morning due to the failure to reach an agreement on the next steps to be taken to limit the use of fossil fuels at the conference, which was supposed to end on Tuesday morning.