The new version of the final text of the climate summit in Dubai has just been approved. It contains an explicit mention for the first time about reducing fossil fuels: countries are called for “a transition away from fossil fuels” in energy systems. The clear ‘phase out’ from fossil fuels previously demanded by more than a hundred countries did not make it into the final text.
LOOK. Sultan Al Jaber, chairman of the UN climate summit: “The foundation for transformational change has been laid”
The chairman of the climate summit, Sultan Al Jaber, the CEO of Abu Dhabi’s state oil company, stood up beaming in front of the plenary session, applauded and spoke of a “historic package”. According to him, there is a robust action plan on the table to keep the goal of a maximum warming of 1.5 degrees compared to the pre-industrial era within reach, as agreed in the 2015 Paris climate agreement. Many climate experts and environmental activists had previously expressed their doubts about this.
The COP28 chairman’s text was made public on Wednesday morning and was adopted in a plenary session a few hours later. The 21-page text calls on countries to transition away from fossil fuels. More than a hundred countries had previously argued for a stronger formulation, with a clear ‘phase out’. In any case, the text leaves open loopholes, such as the further use of gas and the use of controversial technology such as the storage and separation of CO2.
However, the target did meet the final text of tripling the capacity of renewable energy by 2030 and doubling the pace of energy efficiency. The G20 countries have already decided to do this. In addition, inefficient subsidies for fossil energy should be phased out “as quickly as possible” if they do not serve to tackle energy poverty or achieve a just transition.
Phasing out fossil fuels may be too ambitious
Earlier during the climate summit, the option seemed to be on the table that agreements would be reached on a complete phasing out of fossil fuels. It seemed like that was too ambitious a plan for oil states to commit to. This possibility provoked a response from the oil cartel OPEC, among others. This meant that all countries affiliated with OPEC would not agree to plans aimed at fossil fuels.
This year’s climate summit will take place in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates. This led to a lot of criticism of the chairman, who is the CEO of state oil company ADNOC. He reiterated throughout the summit that he wanted to achieve the most ambitious agreements from this summit to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees.
On Monday, the chairman published a version of the final text for the first time. This provoked many critical reactions. Among other things, there was no mention of phasing out fossil fuels. The text also read more like a kind of wish list. Countries could choose which agreements they wanted to adhere to. In this version, all the measures mentioned are “a call” to the countries.
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