COP28 closed today with an agreement that signals the ‘beginning of the end’ of the fossil fuel era along with commitments to triple renewable energy capacity and double energy efficiency by 2030.
With the deadline nearing, negotiators from nearly 200 Parties came together in Dubai with a decision on the world’s first ‘global stocktake’ to ratchet up climate action before the end of the decade – with the overarching aim to keep the global temperature limit of 1.5°C within reach.
“Whilst we didn’t turn the page on the fossil fuel era in Dubai, this outcome is the beginning of the end,” said UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell in his closing speech. “Now all governments and businesses need to turn these pledges into real-economy outcomes, without delay.”
The stocktake recognises the science that indicates global greenhouse gas emissions need to be cut 43% by 2030, compared to 2019 levels, to limit global warming to 1.5°C. But it notes Parties are off track when it comes to meeting their Paris Agreement goals.
Alongside renewables and efficiency commitments, the list includes accelerating efforts towards the phase-down of unabated coal power, phasing out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies, and other measures that drive the transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems, in a ‘just, orderly and equitable manner’, with developed countries continuing to take the lead.
In the short-term, Parties are encouraged to come forward with ambitious, economy-wide emission reduction targets, covering all greenhouse gases, sectors and categories and aligned with the 1.5°C limit in their next round of climate action plans (known as nationally determined contributions) by 2025.
The two-week-long conference got underway with the World Climate Action Summit, which brought together 154 Heads of States and Government. Parties reached a historic agreement on the operationalisation of the loss and damage fund and funding arrangements – the first time a substantive decision was adopted on the first day of the conference. Commitments to the fund have totalled more than $700m.
There was more progress on the loss and damage agenda with an agreement also reached that the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction and the UN Office for Project Services will host the secretariat of the Santiago Network for Loss and Damage.
Parties agreed on targets for the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA) and its framework, which identify where the world needs to get to in order to be resilient to the impacts of a changing climate and to assess countries’ efforts. The GGA framework reflects a global consensus on adaptation targets and the need for finance, technology and capacity-building support to achieve them.
Across the UAE’s border, the Oman Green Hydrogen Summit has been wrestling with the challenges posed by transition. Around 90% of the Sultanate’s GDP is tied up in oil and gas, chemicals and metals, and it is targeting 1Mtpa green hydrogen by 2030, and 8.5Mtpa by 2050.
Mohsin Alhadhrami, Undersecretary, Ministry of Energy and Minerals, said, “The biggest impact is from moving from an oil and gas dominated economy to one of green hydrogen, that is going to be able to not only decarbonise our activities, but our long-term partners globally.”
