Summit president hails ‘historic package to accelerate climate action’, but critics decry ‘litany of loopholes’ in final text
Nearly 200 countries at the Cop28 climate summit have agreed to a deal that, for the first time, calls on all nations to transition away from fossil fuels to avert the worst effects of climate change.
After two weeks of at-times fractious negotiations in the United Arab Emirates, the agreement was quickly gavelled through by the Cop28 president, Sultan Al Jaber, on Wednesday morning. He received an ovation from delegates and a hug from UN climate chief, Simon Stiell.
It reinforced the 1.5C goal and recognised it would require a 43% emissions cut by 2030 and 60% by 2035 relative to 2019 levels. It implies a major increase in targets and policies when countries submit new commitments in 2025.
Countries backed a call for global renewable energy to be tripled and the rate of energy efficiency improvements doubled by 2030.
A statement that global emissions should peak by 2025 was dropped. China, among others, objected to this despite evidence it may be on track to peak its own emissions by then.
Language backed by fossil fuel interests found its way into the text, including “transition fuels” – a code for natural gas – and “carbon capture and utilisation and storage”.
Little progress was made on climate adaptation and finance, which the deal acknowledges will need trillions of dollars in support.
A loss and damage fund to help the most vulnerable repair the damage from climate breakdown was operationalised – a major step forward – but significant work remains to build its capacity.
Continue reading… The Guardian Read More Summit president hails ‘historic package to accelerate climate action’, but critics decry ‘litany of loopholes’ in final textCop28 live – latest updatesNearly 200 countries at the Cop28 climate summit have agreed to a deal that, for the first time, calls on all nations to transition away from fossil fuels to avert the worst effects of climate change.After two weeks of at-times fractious negotiations in the United Arab Emirates, the agreement was quickly gavelled through by the Cop28 president, Sultan Al Jaber, on Wednesday morning. He received an ovation from delegates and a hug from UN climate chief, Simon Stiell.It reinforced the 1.5C goal and recognised it would require a 43% emissions cut by 2030 and 60% by 2035 relative to 2019 levels. It implies a major increase in targets and policies when countries submit new commitments in 2025.Countries backed a call for global renewable energy to be tripled and the rate of energy efficiency improvements doubled by 2030.A statement that global emissions should peak by 2025 was dropped. China, among others, objected to this despite evidence it may be on track to peak its own emissions by then.Language backed by fossil fuel interests found its way into the text, including “transition fuels” – a code for natural gas – and “carbon capture and utilisation and storage”.Little progress was made on climate adaptation and finance, which the deal acknowledges will need trillions of dollars in support.A loss and damage fund to help the most vulnerable repair the damage from climate breakdown was operationalised – a major step forward – but significant work remains to build its capacity. Continue reading…
