After tough negotiations, the text was validated. The countries present at COP28 approved by consensus a decision calling for a “transition” towards the abandonment of fossil fuels. At the opening of the closing plenary session, delegates adopted the decision prepared by the United Arab Emirates, triggering a standing ovation and prolonged applause. It is a “historic decision to accelerate climate action,” said Sultan Al Jaber, president of the UN conference.
The document, whose publication was awaited all night by sleep-deprived negotiators, proposes for the first time in the history of United Nations climate conferences to mention all fossil fuels, largely responsible for climate change.
What does the text contain?
The text, every word of which was negotiated by the Emiratis, calls for “transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems, in a fair, orderly and equitable manner, accelerating action in this crucial decade, in order to achieve carbon neutrality in 2050 in accordance with scientific recommendations. The call to accelerate action this decade was a demand from the European Union and many other countries.
By choosing the term “transitioning away”, the text no longer speaks of “phase-out” of the oil, gas and coal, a term that has for months become the banner behind which more than a hundred countries and thousands of NGOs have lined up. It remains to be seen to what extent the nuance will be debated at the COP.
To make history, this compromise text, the result of painful negotiations notably between the European Union, small island countries, the United States, China and Saudi Arabia, will indeed have to be approved by the consensus of nearly 200 countries. The presidency convened a plenary session at 9:30 a.m. (05:30 GMT) for this purpose, the day after the planned end of COP28, chaired by the Emirati Sultan al-Jaber, boss of the Emirati oil company Adnoc. Only one country can object to the adoption of a decision at the COP, according to UN Climate rules.
What reactions from the NGO side?
“This is not the historic promise” of “phase-out” but “transition out”, it still sends an important signal. And if it is adopted, it would still be the first time that we have such words , which cover not only coal, but also oil and gas”, reacted Caroline Brouillette, director of the NGO network Climate Action Network Canada. However, she regretted the inclusion of “dangerous distractions like carbon capture and storage, nuclear power.”
The NGO WWF described the new draft agreement as an “improvement” regarding fossil fuels, compared to the previous version, while noting the absence of a call for a “complete exit” from fossils. But “if this text is adopted, it would represent a significant moment,” said Stephen Cornelius of WWF. “This text is a step forward on the path to phasing out fossil fuels, but is not the historic decision that we were hoping for,” reacted Andreas Sieber of 350.orgwho would have liked a more direct call for the release of fossils.
The project “sends a clear signal that the world is decisively moving towards an exit from fossil fuels”, analyzes Jake Schmidt, of the American NGO Natural Resources Defense Council. The formulation is “between a reduction and an exit”, analyzes Catherine Abreu, of the NGO Destination Zero, who like others emphasizes that it is a compromise.
Which countries will be the hardest to convince?
Sultan al-Jaber had been striving for more than 24 hours to save a COP that he had announced as “a turning point”, capable of preserving the most ambitious objective of the Paris agreement, adopted eight years ago : limit the rise in global temperature to 1.5°C. The first draft of the Emirati text, on Monday, sparked an outcry because it listed too many options to choose from and did not call for an “exit” from fossil fuels, the combustion of which since the 19th century is largely responsible for the rise current global temperatures of 1.2°C, compared to the pre-industrial era. To date, only the “reduction” of coal had been recorded at COP26 in Glasgow. Oil and gas had never been designated.
In the Emirates’ draft agreement there is recognition of the role played by “transitional energies”, an allusion to gas, in ensuring the “energy security” of developing countries, where nearly 800 million people lack access to electricity. electricity.
The text contains multiple energy-related calls: tripling renewable energy capacities and doubling the rate of improvement in energy efficiency by 2030; accelerate “zero carbon” and “low carbon” technologies, including nuclear power, low carbon hydrogen, and the nascent carbon capture and storage, defended by oil producing countries to be able to continue pumping hydrocarbons. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iraq took a hard line, refusing any agreement attacking the fossil fuels that make them rich.
What are the reactions?
Danish Climate Minister Dan Jørgensen on Wednesday described the draft agreement at COP28 as “historic”. “If it is adopted, it will be a historic step forward,” he declared before a plenary session in Dubai where all countries will have the opportunity to express themselves on the text with a view to possible approval by consensus .
The new text represents an “improvement” despite “concerns” about certain flaws, judged the alliance of small island states (Aosis), which is at the forefront of demanding strong measures against fossil fuels.
COP28 could mark “the beginning of the end of fossil fuels”, judged the European Commissioner for Climate, Wopke Hoekstra, on Wednesday before entering a plenary session in Dubai.