Moving away from fossil fuels, increasing renewable energy, improving energy efficiency: despite its shortcomings, COP28 sends an important signal to the world.
COP28 in Dubai, which ended on Wednesday, marked a historic milestone in global climate action: the world has entered a new era, the post-fossil fuel era. The latest report on government support for fossil fuels in 2022 shows a fiscal cost of more than $1.4 trillion, and a worrying trend: this cost has almost doubled since 2021. Against this backdrop, the agreement reached at COP28 marks a turning point in the global effort to combat climate change. Parties around the world have demonstrated a collective understanding of the urgent need to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.
And the European Union, a pioneer in the fight against climate change, played a key role in achieving results that underline the urgency of the transition away from fossil fuels. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen therefore welcomed the historic multilateral agreement reached at COP28. She underlined the importance of the commitments made by Parties to reduce global emissions by 43 per cent by 2030.
Soundbite by Ursula Von Der Leyen (1st of December 2023):
Only what gets measured gets done. So, today is a day of celebration. We have built a truly global coalition, with large industrial economies, with small island states and with developing nations. We come from all corners of the globe. We are united with one common vision, one single objective to protect our climate, while seizing the economic potential of the clean energy transition.
The parties agreed to accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems over the course of this decade. But there is no precise and binding timetable for this initial ‘phase-out’, whether for oil, coal or gas. The wording of the final agreement is therefore less ambitious than that proposed by the EU. It is also unclear what will happen to other industrial sectors that use these fuels, such as the plastics industry.
COP28 also gave a major boost to renewable energy and energy efficiency, with all participating countries committing to tripling global renewable energy capacity and doubling energy efficiency improvements by 2030. These common renewable energy and energy efficiency targets were, again championed, by the EU.
The agreement on the fight against methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, and emissions other than CO2 is another notable result.
Finally, the EU played a leading role in the creation of a new fund for climate change adaptation and resilience in developing countries, to which the bloc has pledged more than €400 million.
However, COP28 acknowledged that the world is not on track to limit temperature rise to 1.5°C. Parties committed to align their national targets for 2035 at COP30 in two years’ time.
But the fact that all parties in this consensus-based process have agreed on these commitments is a source of optimism: the glass isn’t half empty, it’s half full.
By loading the video, you agree to YouTube's privacy policy.
Learn more
