2023-12-13 08:01:31
The UN climate conference in Dubai came to an end with a compromise on a final document in which the move away from fossil energy sources coal, oil and gas is mentioned for the first time. COP28 President Sultan Al Jaber of the United Arab Emirates called the agreement “historic.” “The hammer has fallen, the decision has been made,” said Environment Minister Leonore Gewessler (Greens).
The final text of the “Global Stocktake” would keep the Paris climate goals within reach, i.e. limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees by 2050: “We have the basis for transformative change,” said Al Jaber to the applause of the delegates. After a second night of negotiations, the COP President presented the revised central text of the decision on Wednesday morning. It calls for a “transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems” and is therefore the first decision at a UN climate conference that affects the future of all fossil energies – in addition to coal, also oil and natural gas.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres welcomed the decision of the World Climate Conference to move away from coal, oil and gas. “Science tells us that limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees without phasing out fossil fuels is impossible. This was also recognized by a growing and broad coalition of countries at COP28,” Guterres wrote on X, formerly Twitter . “The age of fossil fuels must end – and it must end with justice.”
States like the EU were unable to push through their demand to agree on a global move away from all fossil fuels in the face of bitter resistance from oil states like Saudi Arabia. However, the EU still expressed satisfaction. “For the first time in 30 years, we might now be reaching the beginning of the end for fossil fuels,” said EU Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra on the way into the plenary hall.
“The world is saying goodbye to fossil energies. This is a huge step forward,” said Gewessler in a first statement following the initial agreement to “switch away from fossil energies”. These words would usher in a new era in global climate protection, because for the first time the World Climate Conference is specifically and unequivocally naming the cause of the climate crisis: “The hammer has fallen, the decision has been made. The world is saying goodbye to fossil fuels. This is a huge step forward in front,” said Gewessler happily. “We have to move away from fossil fuels. The global community decided that today. In the next few years, the international community will be judged by whether action is taken decisively and quickly enough,” continued Gewessler.
“We came to Dubai with subdued expectations. The last few days have shown how difficult and laborious the negotiations are. This agreement is all the more important and significant. Of course: not everything in the text is as good as we would have liked. But especially in view of the difficult situation, today’s agreement is of enormous importance. After 28 world climate conferences, following countless days of negotiations, today it is decided: the world must move away from fossil fuels,” the minister explained the work of the last few days.
In addition to the clear decisions on fossil energies, the global inventory also includes the decision of the loss and damage fund, a fair agreement on adjustment and corresponding financial contributions from many sides.
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