After a long night of negotiations in Dubai, representatives of the nearly 200 countries meeting at the climate summit in this city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) approved an agreement on Wednesday morning that supports the transition to phase out fossil fuels provides. directly related to oil, gas and coal. These are mainly responsible for the climate crisis, but in the decades-long negotiations, demands for a waiver of them were excluded from the climate negotiation texts.
The presidency of this summit, known as COP28, is in the hands of the United Arab Emirates, a country whose revenues come from oil and gas around 30%, which raised many doubts that this event would result in a direct call against fossil fuels . However, this was despite open and tough opposition from heavily oil-dependent countries such as Saudi Arabia and Iraq.
With the central focus on fuels, the summit had become an “all or nothing” theme. Either they were mentioned for the first time (this was already attempted at the Glasgow Summit in 2021) or they were not implemented, which would end in failure for many states, among which the European Union stands out for its activism on this issue.
In the final hours of negotiations there was doubt as to which verb would accompany the reference to fuel. The most ambitious nations wanted a clear “phasing out” of use and production, compared to the reduction envisaged in the draft released on Monday by the COP28 presidency, which drew much criticism from environmentalists.
Finally, the last agreement proposal, presented this Wednesday in injury time (the summit should have ended yesterday), proposed a transition – “transitioning away” is the English expression – to eliminate fossil fuels “in the energy systems, in a fair”. to act in an orderly and equitable manner and to accelerate the adoption of measures in this critical decade to reach net zero by 2050.
This is the formula that the countries approved in a plenary session this Wednesday morning.
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Climate plans
This call against fossil fuels comes in the context of the new climate plans that countries must submit in 2025 to further reduce their emissions. And in the energy part of the text, the most interesting part, all countries are also asked to “contribute” with other measures, such as the following global effort to “triple global renewable energy capacity and increase the global average annual rate double”. of energy efficiency improvements by 2030” and “accelerating efforts to phase out coal energy” that do not have emissions capture systems.
In addition, these measures include the gradual elimination of “inefficient fossil fuel subsidies”, although without setting any dates. And it is also committed to “significantly reducing emissions other than carbon dioxide worldwide by 2030, including methane emissions in particular”, although without a specific target.
The text leaves several doors open for the fossil sector, which felt threatened at this summit, but which has managed for decades to ensure that these climate agreements talk about greenhouse gas emissions in general, but not about their causes, fossil fuels. There is talk of using “zero- or low-carbon fuels long before or around mid-century.” In addition to renewables and nuclear energy, the technologies to be accelerated include “reduction and elimination technologies such as carbon capture, utilization and storage, particularly in sectors that are difficult to reduce, and the production of hydrogen.” low CO2 emissions.
Finally, it also mentions the need to “accelerate the reduction of emissions from road transport” “through infrastructure and the rapid deployment of zero-emission and low-emission vehicles”.
This text is a clear signal of what signatories to the Paris Agreement must include in their next climate plans, to be presented in 2025, and designed to ensure that warming remains between 1.5 and 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. This is the level of security provided for in the Paris Agreement signed in 2015. However, countries' current plans, which extend to 2030, will result in warming between 2.1 and 2.8 degrees in the best scenario. This is recognized in the text presented by the summit presidency. They must therefore be tightened and guidelines must be put in place that clearly focus on fossil fuels for the first time.
Early reactions to the text from some activists and analysts have shown that the proposal “makes a clear call for the world to divest from fossil fuels and accelerate action this decade,” said Melanie Robinson of the World Resources Institute. In his opinion, “it would take a decisive step forward in the fight against climate change and overcome the immense pressure from oil and gas interests.”
WWF's Stephen Cornelius added: “This draft is a much-needed improvement on the last version, which rightly caused outrage.” However, he warned against “going so far as to completely eliminate coal, oil and gas to promote”. In any case, the environmentalist claims that “it would represent a significant moment.” “For decades, UN climate negotiations have not addressed the fuels driving the climate crisis,” he recalled.
Finally, the agreement proposal presented this Wednesday in injury time (the summit should have ended yesterday) proposes a transition – “transitioning away from”, as the English expression goes – to leave fossil fuels “in the energy systems, in a fair” orderly and to act equitably and accelerate the adoption of measures in this critical decade to reach net zero by 2050.
Countries must now analyze this latest proposal. The Presidium intends to convene a plenary session for approval in the morning. If this reference remains at the end or transition to the end of fossil fuels, it would be the first time that something like this has been achieved, as it refers directly to oil, gas and coal.
Some oil countries fought fiercely at this COP28 to avoid references to all fuels. While another key bloc, comprising around a hundred nations, wanted clear language against those primarily responsible for greenhouse gas emissions that are warming the planet. The EU, which has actively taken this last position, will evaluate the text this morning, but this Wednesday the faces were happy with this latest proposal.
This call against fossil fuels comes in the context of the new climate plans that countries must submit in 2025 to further reduce their emissions. And in the energy part of the text, the most interesting part, all countries are also asked to “contribute” with other measures, such as the following global effort to “triple global renewable energy capacity and increase the global average annual rate double”. of energy efficiency improvements by 2030” and “accelerating efforts to phase out coal energy” that do not have emissions capture systems.
In addition, these measures include the gradual elimination of “inefficient fossil fuel subsidies”, although without setting any dates. And it is also committed to “significantly reducing emissions other than carbon dioxide worldwide by 2030, including methane emissions in particular”, although without a specific target.
The agreement leaves several doors open for the fossil sector, which felt threatened at this summit but has managed for decades to ensure that these climate agreements talk about greenhouse gas emissions in general, but not about their causes, fossil fuels. There is talk of using “zero- or low-carbon fuels long before or around mid-century.” In addition to renewables and nuclear energy, the technologies to be accelerated include “reduction and elimination technologies such as carbon capture, utilization and storage, particularly in sectors that are difficult to reduce, and the production of hydrogen.” low CO2 emissions.
Finally, it also mentions the need to “accelerate the reduction of emissions from road transport” “through infrastructure and the rapid deployment of zero-emission and low-emission vehicles”.
If adopted, this text would be a clear signal of what signatories to the Paris Agreement must include in their next climate plans, to be presented in 2025 and designed to keep warming between 1.5 and 2 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels. This is the level of security proposed in the Paris Agreement. However, countries' current plans, which extend to 2030, will at best result in warming of between 2.1 and 2.8 degrees, as recognized in the text presented by the summit presidency. They must therefore be tightened and guidelines must be put in place that clearly focus on fossil fuels for the first time.
Early reactions to the text from some activists and analysts have shown that the proposal “makes a clear call for the world to divest from fossil fuels and accelerate action this decade,” said Melanie Robinson of the World Resources Institute. “This text would mark a decisive turning point in the fight against climate change and overcome the immense pressure from oil and gas interests.”
WWF's Stephen Cornelius added: “This draft is a much-needed improvement on the last version, which rightly caused outrage.” “The language on fossil fuels has improved greatly, but it is still not enough “To demand a complete abandonment of coal, oil and gas.” “If the countries agreed on this text, it would be a significant moment. For decades, UN climate negotiations have not addressed the fuels driving the climate crisis,” added this member of the environmental NGO WWF.
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