A new draft agreement at COP28 calls for “reducing fossil fuel consumption and production in a fair, organized and equitable manner to achieve emissions neutrality” by 2050.
The text released this Monday must be presented to the plenary session of negotiators at the Dubai climate summit, a plenary session that should be convened soon by the presidency.
The English expression “phase out”, that is, the gradual elimination of oil, coal and gas, does not appear in the text, as many countries wanted.
This draft proposes “the elimination of inefficient fossil fuel subsidies that encourage uncontrolled consumption and do not solve energy poverty.” The 21-page document also proposes “accelerating technologies with zero or low emissions”, which includes “renewable and nuclear energies” and also methods of sequestration and capture of emissions.
Overall, the text indicates a reduction in climate ambitions. The countries that signed the 2015 Paris Agreement “recognize the need for deep, rapid and sustainable reductions in emissions” of greenhouse gases and therefore call for “actions that could include” this entire battery of measures.
The president of COP28 is “aware” that there are aspects that still need to be resolved and asks countries to have the greatest ambition to reach an agreement. At a press conference, Al Jaber warns that “the time for discussion is over” and that now is the time to “decide without hesitation.”
Everything is now in the hands of the different parties involved, but the leaders of this UN meeting stated that they trust that everyone will be able to do what is best for humanity and the planet.
This new draft does not please the activists present in Dubai. In a first reaction, there is talk of a “retreat” and a “vague commitment” to reduce the consumption and production of fossil fuels between now and 2050.
Source: TSF
