COP28 climate summit: Nations adopt first-ever deal to transition away from fossil fuels
· WIONCountries participating in the United Nations climate summit or COP28 in Dubai have adopted the recently proposed first-ever agreement that was unveiled early Wednesday (Dec 13) calling for “transitioning away” from fossil fuels, but still stops short of calling for a “phase out”.
The adopted agreement is the first time in the nearly three-decade history of the UN climate summits that nations agreed to transition away from fossil fuels.
The recent text comes after another full night of haggling and would, according to the news agency AFP, also call for “accelerating action” during “this critical decade.”
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The draft was meant to reflect the consensus view of nearly 200 countries gathered as a number of governments have called for strong language to signal an eventual end to the fossil fuel era.
About the agreement
The agreement, for the first time, would call on countries to take action to transition away from fossil fuels in a bid to avert the worst impacts of climate change.
The agreement adopted provides more urgency than an earlier draft which was widely dismissed and criticised for offering a list of options that “could” be taken to combat global warming.
The latest draft had more explicitly “calls on” all nations to take a series of actions and contribute to the efforts.
The actions include “transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems, in a just, orderly and equitable manner, accelerating action in this critical decade, so as to achieve net zero by 2050 in keeping with the science.”
It also calls for tripling of renewable energy capacity globally by 2030, phase-downs of “unabated coal power” and accelerating technologies such as carbon capture.
‘Phasing out’ but not ‘phase-out’
While the agreement reportedly calls for “phasing out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies that do not address energy poverty or just transitions, as soon as possible,” it does not call for a “phase-out” of fossil fuels, which had been sought by most countries in the West as well as island nations who are particularly vulnerable to the impact of climate change.
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The draft adopted marks the first time in three decades of UN climate summits that nations agree on a concerted move away from oil, gas and coal, which account for about 80 per cent of global energy but are also the main culprits in the planet’s rapid warming.
What happens now?
The countries’ representatives were called for what the COP28 Presidency hoped was a final meeting on Wednesday in a bid to pass the agreement and end two weeks of tough negotiations.
It is now up to individual countries to take action by proposing and enacting national policies and investments.
(With inputs from agencies)