Baerbock cheers COP agreement - climate activists disappointed

A clear phase-out of fossil fuels does not make it into the final paper of the UN Climate Change Conference in Dubai. Instead, there is talk of a "turning away". Foreign Minister Baerbock is nevertheless full of praise. Representatives of small island states and climate activists are not so convinced.

Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has expressed her delight at the resolutions passed at the UN Climate Change Conference in Dubai. "This is a day of great joy," said the Green politician. Many around the world had been working for a long, long time to move away from coal, oil and gas. "Now the world has made its decision: This climate conference de facto seals the end of the fossil age."

Although the final text calls on countries to turn their backs on fossil fuels, it was weaker than the previously discussed plan for a clear phase-out of coal, oil and gas. According to Baerbock, the end of fossil fuels is clearly stated in the final text, "so that anyone who can do the math knows that investments in fossil fuels will no longer pay off in the long term," said Baerbock. Team Germany had been working towards this for two years.

The final text is not as clear and binding at every point as Germany and the EU would have liked. "But in the end, climate conferences need unanimity - and unanimity from 198 very, very different countries."

Western industrialized countries praise compromise

"The path to a climate-friendly future has finally been paved," agreed Economics Minister Robert Habeck. Now it is time to seize this moment and "realize the great opportunities of transformation", Habeck explained. Development Minister Svenja Schulze explained that the conference sent out a "signal of unity" that "the world urgently needed in these difficult times". Environment Minister Steffi Lemke described the decision as a "good compromise". "We have initiated the phase-out of fossil fuels and the entry into the renewable era," explained Lemke.

The US climate envoy John Kerry praised the agreement as a hopeful sign. In times of war in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip, "multilateralism" had set a course for the "common good", said Kerry. The "historic" agreement marks the beginning of the "post-fossil era", explained EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The world had confirmed the EU's goals of tripling renewable energies and doubling energy efficiency by 2030.

Praise also came from French President Emmanuel Macron. The world will be committed to a fossil-free transition by tripling renewables and recognizing the key role of nuclear power, Macron wrote at X. "This is a first and a step forward in meeting the Paris Agreement." Macron called: "Let's accelerate!"

The Group of Arab States called the agreement a "great success". The head of the Saudi Arabian delegation, Albara Tawfik, speaking on behalf of the group, expressed "gratitude" and referred to the mention of technologies for the capture and storage of climate-damaging carbon dioxide in the text of the agreement.

Island states are disappointed

The small island states, which are particularly threatened by climate change, expressed their concern about the decision. Samoa's chief negotiator Anne Rasmussen said on behalf of the small islands that "incremental progress" had been achieved, but that an "exponential step towards change" was needed.

Beijing assigned the industrialized countries an "undeniable historical responsibility for climate change". Chinese Vice Environment Minister Zhao Yingmin stated that these countries "must therefore take the lead and embark on the 1.5 degree Celsius path ahead of the rest of the world".

Marina Silva, the environment minister of South America's largest country, explained that the richer nations must lead the way in the energy transition and provide developing countries with the "necessary resources" so that they can follow suit.

Activist: "Finally we are naming the elephant in the room"

Activists combined praise with calls for tightening up. The call for a shift away from coal, oil and gas could be "a historic step - but only if there is actually a massive global phase-down of coal, oil and gas in the coming years", explained Christoph Bals from Germanwatch.

"We are finally naming the elephant in the room," explained Mohamed Adow from the think tank Power Shift Africa, referring to the fossil fuels that have not yet been explicitly named in COP resolutions. "This genie is never going back in the bottle."

The climate protection movement Fridays for Future, on the other hand, expressed its disappointment: "We are concerned that we orient ourselves to the realities. That would mean phasing out fossil fuels," spokeswoman Clara Duvigneau told SWR. It now depends on what the states make of the "transition" laid down in the agreement.