Climate Summit Finally Agreed On Transition Away From Fossil Fuel after Days of Haggling
A new deal has been agreed at the United Nations (UN) climate summit in Dubai after days of negotiations.
For the first time, the deal calls on all countries to move away from the use of fossil fuels – but not to phase them out, something many governments wanted.
The text recognizes the need for deep, rapid, and sustained reductions if humanity is to limit temperature rises to 1.5 Celsius.
Sultan Al-Jaber says the deal offers a “comprehensive response” to climate change, representing a “robust action plan to keep 1.5celsius in reach”.
Norway’s Climate Minister Espen Barth Eide earlier said fossil fuels were “the elephant in the room” at the summit.
At no previous conference of the parties, or cop, have nations agreed on a concerted move away from oil, gas, and coal.
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Members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries control nearly 80% of the world’s proven oil reserves along with about a third of global oil output, and their governments rely heavily on those revenues.
Small climate-vulnerable island states, meanwhile, were among the most vocal supporters of language to phase out fossil fuels and had the backing of huge oil and gas producers such as the United States, Canada, and Norway, along with the EU bloc and scores of other governments.
This is a moment where multilateralism has come together and people have taken individual interests and attempted to define the common good, U.S. climate envoy John Kerry said after the deal was adopted.
The lead negotiator for the Alliance of Small Island States, Anne Rasmussen, criticized the deal as unambitious.
We have made an incremental advancement over business as usual, when what we need is an exponential step change in our actions, she said.
But she did not formally object to the pact, and her speech drew a standing ovation.
Danish Minister for Climate and Energy Dan Jorgensen marveled at the circumstances of the deal: We’re standing here in an oil country, surrounded by oil countries, and we made the decision saying let’s move away from oil and gas.
