After two weeks of intense discussions, a compromise was reached in Dubai that was intended to send a strong message to legislators and investors.
At the COP28 climate summit on Wednesday, delegates from almost 200 nations decided to start cutting back on fossil fuel consumption globally in order to mitigate the worst effects of climate change. This historic agreement heralds the end of the oil age. After two weeks of intense discussions, a deal was reached in Dubai that was intended to send a strong message to investors and decision-makers that the world is now united in its desire to move away from fossil fuels, which scientists believe is the last best hope to prevent a global warming disaster.
“With this agreement, the world comes together for the first time around a clear text on the need to move away from fossil fuels,” Norway’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Espen Barth Eide, stated. The elephant in the room has been this. Finally, we confront it head-on.” The Saudi Arabia-led organisation of oil producers, known as OPEC, fiercely resisted the efforts of more than 100 countries to include strong wording in the COP28 accord that would “phase out” the use of oil, gas, and coal, arguing that global emissions could be reduced without banning any particular fuel. On Wednesday, the summit went into overtime due to that dispute.
After a settlement is reached, nations must implement the commitments through national investments and policies. “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” is the precise phrase used in the proposed agreement. It also calls for a tripling of renewable energy capacity globally by 2030, speeding up efforts to reduce coal, and accelerating technologies such as carbon capture and storage that can clean up hard-to-decarbonize industries.
