“It Is The Beginning Of The End” For Fossil Fuels

The 28  Conference of Parties (COP28) closed with an agreement that paves the way for a quick, fair, and just transition to clean energy, marking the “beginning of the end” of the fossil fuel age. Around 200 Parties sent delegates to Dubai to talk about the first-ever “global stocktake”, which intends to intensify climate action before the end of the decade. The Paris Pact’s 1.5°C ceiling is the target that the pact seeks to maintain. To do this, global greenhouse gas emissions must be lowered from 2019 levels by 43 per cent before 2030.

UN Climate Change Executive Secretary, Simon Stiell, concluded that the Dubai outcome did not mark the end of the fossil fuel era, but it is the beginning of the end. The most significant outcome of COP28 is the global stocktake, which contains all the negotiated elements. Countries can use it to strengthen their climate action plans by 2025.

A stocktake revealed that several nations are currently falling short of the targets outlined in the Paris Agreement. As a result, all organisations, including governments, must act to quickly translate their promises into observable outcomes. The negotiators have demonstrated international unity and made it very evident that substantial emissions reductions and additional funding are essential to securing a sustainable future for all. This shift needs to be backed by large financial investments and drastic reductions in emissions.

In Dubai, negotiators from almost 200 countries demonstrated global solidarity by agreeing on the world’s first ‘global stocktake’. This stocktake will help increase global action to combat climate change before the decade’s end, aiming to keep the global temperature limit to 1.5°C.

“While we didn’t turn the page on the fossil fuel era in Dubai, this outcome is the beginning of the end”, said UN Climate 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”, he added.

The stocktake advises the Parties to move towards tripling the amount of renewable energy generated globally and tripling the rate of energy efficiency gains by 2030. Along with phasing out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies and other measures that push the transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems in a just, orderly, and equitable manner. The developed countries continue to lead the way. The list also calls for accelerating efforts to phase down unabated coal power.

The World Climate Action Summit, which lasted for two weeks, began with the participation of 154 Heads of State and Government. A significant agreement was reached during the conference on operationalising the Loss and Damage Fund and funding arrangements. A substantive decision was made for the first time on the first day of the conference. Upon this, funds poured in, totalling more than USD 700 million.

An agreement was reached on the loss and damage agenda, which resulted in progress. The UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction and the UN Office for Project Services will host the secretariat of the Santiago Network for Loss and Damage. This platform will provide technical assistance to developing countries particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change.

Parties agreed on targets for the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA) and its framework. The GGA framework outlines where the world needs to go to be resilient to the impacts of a changing climate and assesses countries’ efforts. The framework reflects a global consensus on adaptation targets and the need for financing, technology and capacity-building.

Increasing Climate Finance  

Throughout the meeting, climate finance was the focal point, as Stiell kept referring to it as the ‘great enabler of climate action’.  Six nations pledged new funds for the Green Climate Fund (GCF) during COP 28, giving it a boost for its second replenishment period. Now, 31 countries have pledged a total of USD 12.8 billion, and more contributions are anticipated.

At COP 28, eight donor governments came forward with new commitments to the Least Developed Countries Fund and Special Climate Change Fund, totalling more than USD 174 million to date. The participants pledged nearly USD 188 million in additional funds for the Adaptation Fund. However, the global stocktake highlighted that these financial pledges are far short of the trillions eventually needed to support developing countries with clean energy transitions, implementing their national climate plans, and adaptation efforts.

The worldwide stocktake serves as a reminder of how critical it is to change the multilateral financial architecture and quicken the process of creating fresh and creative funding sources. Around the needs and objectives of poor countries, discussions at COP28 focused on establishing a ‘new collective measurable goal on climate funding’ for 2024. The new objective, which will begin at a baseline of USD 100 billion annually, will serve as a foundation for creating and carrying out national climate plans, which must be completed by 2025.

At COP 28, some 85,000 participants attended to share ideas and solutions and build partnerships and coalitions. World leaders were joined by civil society, business, indigenous peoples, youth, philanthropies, and international organisations in a spirit of shared determination to close the gaps to 2030. The COP28 decisions underscore the critical importance of empowering all stakeholders to engage in climate action, mainly through the action plan on Action for Climate Empowerment and the Gender Action Plan.

The Global Climate Action area at COP28 offered a forum for governments, corporations, and civil society to work together and present their practical climate solutions in addition to the official negotiations. The High-Level Champions unveiled their 2030 Climate Solutions implementation roadmap as part of the Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action. A variety of non-party stakeholders have provided insights into these solutions, which are a set of workable steps that must be increased and repeated to reduce global emissions by half, close adaptation gaps and boost resilience by 2030.

Looking ahead, the negotiations on the ‘enhanced transparency framework’ at COP28 laid the ground for a new era of implementing the Paris Agreement. UN Climate Change is developing transparency reporting and review tools for Parties. These were showcased and tested at COP28 and will be available to Parties by June 2024.

The Parties to COP28 also decided that Azerbaijan would host COP29 from 11 to 22 November 2024 and Brazil would host COP30 from 10 to 21 November 2025. The next two years will be very important. Governments are required to set a new climate financing target at COP29 that considers the gravity and urgency of the climate crisis. They need to be ready for COP30 with updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) that address all greenhouse gases, encompass the entire economy, and adhere to the 1.5°C temperature target.

“We must get on with putting the Paris Agreement fully to work,” said Stiell. “In early 2025, countries must deliver new Nationally Determined Contributions. Every commitment on finance, adaptation, and mitigation must bring us in line with a 1.5 degree world,” he added.