Sustainable Biz #5 - Magazine - Page 10
COP28 agreement signals “beginning
of the end” of the fossil fuel era
T
he United Nations Climate Change
Conference (COP28) closed with
an agreement that signals the
“beginning of the end” of the fossil fuel era
by laying the ground for a swift, just and
equitable transition, underpinned by deep
emissions cuts and scaled-up finance.
In a demonstration of global solidarity,
negotiators from nearly 200 Parties came
together in Dubai with a decision on the
world’s first ‘global stocktake’ to ratchet up
climate action before the end of the decade –
with the overarching aim to keep the global
temperature limit of 1.5°C within reach.
“Whilst we didn’t turn the
page on the fossil fuel era in
Dubai, this outcome is the
beginning of the end.”
Simon Stiell
UN Climate
Change Secretary
10
Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell in
his closing speech. “Now all governments
and businesses need to turn these pledges
into real-economy outcomes, without
delay.”
fuel subsidies, and other measures that
drive the transition away from fossil fuels
in energy systems, in a just, orderly and
equitable manner, with developed countries
continuing to take the lead.
The global stocktake is considered the
central outcome of COP28 – as it contains
every element that was under negotiation
and can now be used by countries to develop
stronger climate action plans due by 2025.
In the short-term, Parties are encouraged
to come forward with ambitious, economywide emission reduction targets, covering
all greenhouse gases, sectors and categories
and aligned with the 1.5°C limit in their
next round of climate action plans (known
as nationally determined contributions) by
2025. The two-week-long conference got
underway with the World Climate Action
Summit, which brought together 154 Heads
of States and Government. Parties reached a
historic agreement on the operationalisation
of the loss and damage fund and funding
arrangements – the first time a substantive
decision was adopted on the first day
of the conference. Commitments to the
fund started coming in moments after the
decision was gavelled, totalling more than
USD 700 million to date. There was more
progress on the loss and damage agenda
with an agreement also reached that the UN
The stocktake recognises the science that
indicates global greenhouse gas emissions
need to be cut 43% by 2030, compared
to 2019 levels, to limit global warming to
1.5°C. But it notes Parties are off track when
it comes to meeting their Paris Agreement
goals.
The stocktake calls on Parties to take actions
towards achieving, at a global scale, a
tripling of renewable energy capacity and
doubling energy efficiency improvements
by 2030. The list also includes accelerating
efforts towards the phase-down of unabated
coal power, phasing out inefficient fossil
S USTAI N AB L E B I Z MAGAZINE
MAY 2024
