World Climate Conference in Dubai heralds a move away from fossil fuels
"We have the basis for transformative change," said al-Jaber to the applause of the delegates after none of the almost 200 countries raised objections to the central text of the resolution. The plenary session took place one day late.
After a second night of negotiations, the COP President presented the revised central resolution text on Wednesday morning. It calls for a "transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems", making it the first resolution at a UN climate conference to address the future of all fossil fuels - including oil and gas as well as coal.
Countries such as those of the EU were thus unable to push through their demand to anchor a global phase-out of all fossil fuels with the word "phase-out" in the face of fierce resistance from oil states such as Saudi Arabia.
Foreign Minister Baerbock nevertheless welcomed the compromise. The agreement shows "that we are walking the path of climate justice together", she said in plenary. Delegation circles said that the Minister was "hugely relieved" that "the world has decided to end the fossil age".
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also saw the decision as the "beginning of the post-fossil age". US climate envoy John Kerry told the conference plenary that in times of war in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip, "multilateralism" had set a course for the "common good".
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. Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, expressed "gratitude" for the compromise on behalf of the Arab group.
The conference resolution calls for a tripling of global renewable energy capacity by 2030 and a doubling of energy efficiency in the same period. However, it also contains references to "transitional energies" such as natural gas and the controversial technologies for capturing and storing CO2, which environmental organizations criticize as a back door to delaying the energy transition.
UN Climate Change Secretary Simon Stiell called on the global community to now bring the Dubai resolution to life. "Now all governments and companies must turn these commitments into real economic practice without delay," he told the plenary. "The age of fossil fuels must end", UN Secretary-General António Guterres also warned.
Environmental and development organizations combined praise with a call for more stringent measures. The agreement in Dubai "marks the beginning of the end of the oil, gas and coal industry after 30 years of climate activism - no more, but also no less", explained Greenpeace board member Martin Kaiser. However, it "could and should have been more binding and without loopholes".
Oxfam climate expert Jan Kowalzig explained that the outcome of the conference was "definitely a clear signal from the global community that heralds the gradual shift away from fossil fuels". However, there are also "worrying downsides" such as the emphasis on the role of natural gas as a transitional solution.
"For the first time, a world climate conference is calling on all countries to organize the transition away from coal, oil and gas," emphasized Christoph Bals from Germanwatch. This could be "a historic step - but only if a massive global phase-out of coal, oil and gas actually takes place over the next few years".
"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."
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Source: www.stern.de
