In the early hours of 13 December, an agreement was reached in Dubai at the 28th Conference of Parties to the UN Climate Convention, COP28.
The UAE Consensus included a commitment to transition away from all fossil fuels, following intense negotiations over two weeks, and a heavily criticized first draft that was released on Monday.
The revised – and final – version represents the first time in COP history that words ‘fossil fuels’ appeared in an agreement. It also included a specific target on tripling renewables and doubling energy efficiency by 2030.
“It is an enhanced, balanced — but make no mistake — historic package to accelerate climate action,” COP28 President, Dr Sultan Al Jaber, said, after delegates rose to their feet in to applaud the deal.
This COP is reportedly the most significant since the Paris Agreement in 2015, when the countries of the world agreed to limit global warming to 1.5° above pre-industrial levels.
Although not without criticism (natural gas is still identified as a transition fuel, despite causing global warming, for example), responses to the agreement have been positive. Speaking on Irish radio, Minister for Climate, Environment and Communications, Eamon Ryan, T.D., said that the deal is not just about transition away from fossil fuels, but also “building a new, renewable and energy-efficient future and critically changing the entire financial architecture in the world to make that happen everywhere in the world.” Marie Donnelly, Chair of the Climate Change Advisory Council, described the COP process as defeating the ‘very visible attempt’ by the fossil fuel industry to derail the process and deny the science: “From my perspective, that is a real success… this is the signal. This is effectively the starting gun. Now, we can be serious about the discussion of phasing out fossil fuels.”
COPs have come in for much criticism for being too large, too bureaucratic and too much at risk of being influenced by major polluters, the lobbyists of which can outnumber the collective representatives from those countries most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change; however, all parties at the climate summits must agree on every word of the agreements, and to some it underscores how much these UN conferences can achieve. Speaking about this agreement, Special climate envoy to Prime Minister Mia Mottley of Barbados Avinash Persaud stated “When the dust settles and dawn breaks, this will be seen as one of the most historic COPs."
As parties prepared to leave the two-week conference, UN climate chief, Simon Stiell, who described the agreement as “the beginning of the end for fossil fuels”, reminded governments of the next steps:
“We must get on with the job of putting the Paris agreement to full work…In early 2025, countries must deliver new NDCs [‘nationally determined contributions’, i.e. efforts by each country to reduce national greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change]. It must bring us into alignment with a 1.5C world. We will keep working to improve the process.” His final message, though, was to ‘ordinary people everywhere’:
“Everyone one of you is making a difference. Your voices and determination will be more important than ever. We are still in this race. We will be with you every step of the way.”
Find more news on the global climate summit our our COP28 page on Chartered Accountants Ireland's sustainability centre.
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