World leaders trumpeted a deal on Wednesday to “transition away” from fossil fuels to save the planet from catastrophic global warming but there were immediate warnings that action to do so may come too late.
Representatives from nearly 200 countries agreed at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai to begin reducing global consumption of fossil fuels to try to avert the worst of climate change.
But the latest eco-pact failed to push for the “phase out” of fossil fuels and left room for countries to carry on polluting at large scale long into the future.
COP28 president Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber hailed the deal, reached after fraught negotiations, as “historic” but said its success would be in its implementation. “We are what we do, not what we say,” he told the plenary at the summit in the United Arab Emirates.
“We must take the steps necessary to turn this agreement into tangible actions.”
Scientists are warning that the world has been too slow to respond to the climate crisis, with 2023 almost certainly the hottest year on record, with wildfires ripping through communities and others devastated by floods.
United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said: “Whether you like it or not, fossil fuel phase out is inevitable. Let’s hope it doesn’t come too late.” The deal struck in Dubai after two weeks of hard-fought negotiations was meant to send a powerful signal to investors and policymakers that the world is united in its desire to break with fossil fuels.
John Kerry, the US climate envoy, said: “While nobody here will see their views completely reflected, the fact is that this document sends a very strong signal to the world. We have to adhere to keeping 1.5C (of heating above pre-industrial levels) in reach.”
Language in the agreement was strengthened after widespread anger at a draft in which suggested that countries could reduce fossil fuels but left too many holes for many nations to live with particularly those vulnerable to global warming.
More than 100 countries had lobbied for strong language to “phase out” oil, gas and coal use, but faced opposition from the Saudi Arabia-led oil producer group OPEC, which argued that the world can slash emissions without shunning specific fuels. That battle pushed the summit a full day into overtime today.
Small climate-vulnerable island states were among the most vocal supporters of language to phase out fossil fuels and had the backing of huge oil and gas producers such as the United States, Canada and Norway, along with the EU bloc and scores of other governments.
However, a source familiar with Saudi Arabia’s position said the deal is “a menu where every country can follow its own pathway” and “shows the various tracks that will allow us to maintain the objective of 1.5 in accordance with the characteristics of every nation and in the context of sustainable development”.
But the lead negotiator for the Alliance of Small Island States, Anne Rasmussen, criticised the deal as unambitious. She said: “We have made an incremental advancement over business as usual, when what we really need is an exponential step change in our actions.”
But she did not formally object to the pact which stressed “the need for deep, rapid and sustained reductions” in greenhouse gas emissions in line with 1.5C pathways.
However, Brianna Fruean, a Pacific Climate Warrior activist from Samoa, told Times Radio: “This is my sixth COP and time and time again, you feel like you’re a bit hopeful in the beginning. And then in the end, you feel like you’ve been asked to celebrate flowers that will lie on your grave.”
UK net zero minister Graham Stuart said: “We’re now unified in a common commitment to move away from fossil fuels.” But he was forced to defend the Government issuing a new wave of gas and oil licences for the North Sea, arguing: “Our production of fossil fuels mean that if we stopped [North Sea oil and gas extraction], we would simply import more from abroad with higher embedded emissions than producing at home.”
The deal calls for “transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems, in a just, orderly and equitable manner ... so as to achieve net zero by 2050 in keeping with the science.”
It also advocates a tripling of renewable energy capacity globally by 2030, speeding up efforts to reduce coal use, and accelerating technologies such as carbon capture and storage that can clean up hard to decarbonize industries.
The International Energy Agency warned that reliance on carbon capture is unrealistic given it would require more electricity than the entire world’s current demand.
Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, former Cop20 president and WWF global climate and energy lead, said: “It is unfortunate that with the inclusion of the word unabated, the outcome suggests there is a considerable role for dangerous distractions such as large-scale carbon capture and storage and transitional fuels. This is not the case. For a liveable planet, we need a full phase out of all fossil fuels.”
