UN Climate Summit, COP28 is over with some significant decisions along with some loopholes. The conference started on a positive note with the approval of the “loss and damage fund” – a climate disaster fund that was first tabled in COP27.
The climate advocates and experts have won for now at least– so it seems. A key demand of COP28 has been to phase out fossil fuels to avert the effects of climate change. However, the agreement did not come very smoothly. The agreement has been disputed especially by the oil and gas producers - and largely the OPEC led by Saudi Arabia that has been propagating the focus of COP28 on preventive measures like reducing emissions – rather than targeting the fuel sources that cause them. Because of the same reason, the COP28 climate talks stalled and went overtime amid a standoff over fossil fuels.
Shortly after the initial text was released to countries for consideration, the agreement was passed – leaving many surprised and perplexed. The tweet by António Guterres, the UN secretary-general was a sign that many did not like the decision: “Whether you like it or not, fossil fuel phase-out is inevitable. Let’s hope it doesn’t come too late. However, in the final text, a majority consensus within the 200 attending countries was achieved to include language to “transition away” from fossil fuels; and phasing down the unabated use of coal.
Another highlight of COP28 was the unsupportiveness shown for renewables by global finance for the pressure it creates for developing countries.
For the first time, there has come an agreement that has given direction to the future of fossil fuels. But it took 30 years to bring the issue into official scrutiny. Now that the agreement has been reached on the policy, all eyes would now be on the commitment to implement the “moving away” from fossil fuels. This is a major loophole as there is no set timeline or absolute targets - offering the fossil fuel players many escape routes.
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