Dfter a long, non-stop night of negotiations, the agreement was finally reached and abandon fossil fuels will finally become reality: this is the end of the story Cop28, the United Nations conference on climate changes. And December 13, 2023 will be remembered as the day the world reached a historic agreement on climatemanaging to overcome for the first time ever the opposition of the countries producing these highly polluting energy sources.
Cop28, the climate agreement has been reached
“We have laid the groundwork to bring about change,” he said Sultan Al Jaber, president of the Conference words which, hopefully, really make an impact, the beginning of the end of an era dominated by oil.
In fact, despite the appeals launched by scientists that a rise above 1.5°C would undermine the survival of human beings, oil, gas and coal still produce around 80% of the world’s energy.
Historic climate agreement reached in Dubai (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
Stop fossil fuels
Paving the way for the abandonment of these types of energy was the priority of this summit for the European Union and other industrialized economies, as well as for countries very vulnerable to climate change, such as many developing ones.
However, until the end there was uncertainty as to whether an agreement marking the end of the fossil fuel era would be accepted from oil-producing countries. And instead.
What the final text says
In the final text, also known as Global Stocktakea compromise was reached replacing the term “phasing out” with “gradual removal/transition”. Additionally, fossil fuels are mentioned for the first time, a real departure from the draft.
In this, in fact, there was no mention of “gradual elimination” at all, but just a series of measurements that countries could have adopted to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. A proposal considered very weak by many participants, such as Australia, Canada, Chile, Norway, the European Union and the United States.
Cop28, how to act
The text also states that the international community “recognizes the need for deep, rapid and lasting reductions in greenhouse gases”. To this end, therefore, “asks the parties to contribute” with a list of climate actions, “according to the respective national circumstances”. Therefore, the final text representing the first “Global Stocktake” also contains the methods required to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Climate actions
In the document, all parties committed to «triple renewable energy capacity» and to «double average energy efficiency» between now and 2030. This must be accelerated «in this crucial decade to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050».
And because Global Stocktake recognizes that the world is not currently on track to reduce emissions to the level needed to limit temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius, the parties have agreed on a path to get back on track, including through a process of aligning national objectives and measures with the Paris Agreement.
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