Originally written and published by Regan Slaymaker on Solar & Storage XTRA
The latest draft of the United Nation’s COP28 climate agreement has removed the phaseout of fossil fuels.
The document explains that countries ‘could’ cut the consumption and production of fossil fuels amongst other suggestions.
The wording of the document has received backlash from some countries that are accusing Saudi Arabia and other Nations from pushing out efforts to tackle global warming.
Even with the backlash, the COP28 document will need to be agreed by almost 200 countries at the summit in Dubai.
The document highlights multiple actions that countries ‘could’ take to cut greenhouse gas emissions to meet Net Zero targets by 2050.
The document includes reducing the “consumption and production of fossil fuels, in a just, orderly, and equitable manner so as to achieve Net Zero emissions by, before, or around 2050 in keeping with the science.”
The criticism comes from the document implying there is a choice on whether you should phase out fossil fuels, rather than a mandatory agreement to phase out fossil fuels indefinitely.
European Union (EU) Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra described the draft the document as “clearly insufficient” explaining “for the vast majority of our emissions we have no alternative other than to drive them down and out as soon as possible.”
A lot of the negotiations and ministers from Nations opposing the draft document have accused Saudi Arabia of pressuring Sultan al-Jaber, COP28 president and the Head of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, to shift focus on any agreement away from fossil fuels.
Sultan al-Jaber, COP28 president and the Head of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company said:
“We have made progress but we will have a lot to do… I want you to develop the highest ambition on all terms, including the fossil fuel language.”
The German Foreign Minister Amalena Baerbach explained that it is “misleading” to argue that fossil fuels could play an essential role in energy as it contradicts EU energy policy and allows for new coal power plants to be built.
The UK Government described the draft as “disappointing and did not go far enough” explaining an explicit call to phase out fossil fuels must be included in the document to achieve climate goals.
The document must be agreed by all Nations attending COP28 in Dubai.
Whilst the draft has received some criticism, it is the first document to set out a shift away from all fossil fuels. In previous documents, only a phase down of coal referenced.
