President Sultan Al-Jaber, the President of COP28, approved the central document for the global stocktake concerning the strategic transition from a fossil fuel-dominant world to a low-carbon society and ultimately achieving the net-zero emissions target.
On Wednesday, representatives from more than 200 countries agreed at the UN climate summit to decrease the consumption of hydrocarbons to safeguard the world from the adverse effects of climate change. They put a probable end to the use of oil.
UN Climate negotiators fought hard with officials to convince them to take this step and signal to investors and policymakers that the world is ready to shift to a greener alternative from greenhouse gas-emitting fuels. The move was widely cheered upon, but critics point at the loopholes.
Al-Jaber, CEO of ADNOC, a UAE state-owned oil company, said that this step is led by science. It represents an enhanced, balanced, and historic approach towards boosting climate change. He also termed this agreement as the UAE consensus.
Simon Steil, Climate Secretary for the United Nations, told the delegates that their endeavour was of utmost importance in sending a message to the world that the human race is willing to stop the core issue responsible for climate change issues, the fossil fuels that are burning the planet.
He added that though they didn’t succeed in turning the tables on non-renewable energy sources in Dubai, the agreement is just the start of the complete shift. He reminded everyone that what they agreed upon was a climate action lifeline and not the finish line.
Espen Barth, Foreign Affairs Minister of Norway, said that this has been the first time that the world has come together to unite over a common need of the hour to shift from non-renewables to clean energy.
The deal was the result of immense backing from over 100 countries that strengthened the use of strong language in the COP28 agreement for the strategic phase-out of oil, gas, and coal consumption.
They were heavily opposed by the Saudi Arabia-led oil cartel OPEC, which advised that the world could reduce emissions even without alienating specific fuels. These negotiations extended the summit by one whole day on the 13th of December, pushing viewers to stress whether the negotiations would meet a dead end.
The 15-member Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries controls over 80% of the world’s known oil reserves and dominates one-third of the global oil output. Their governments earn huge sums of revenue from the sale of oil and have a heavy dependence on those businesses.
John Kerry, the US climate envoy, said that this deal remarks that multilateralism brought together everybody considering individual interests to chalk out a common goal.
The United States, Canada, Norway, even the European Union, and several smaller, vulnerable climate islands were some of the strong supporters of the adoption of language to phase out fossil fuels.
Anne Rasmussen, lead delegate for Samoa and lead negotiator for the Alliance of Small Island States, complained that the correction required in the deal was not done and that it just represented business moves rather than emission reduction norms. She said that the deal took them backward instead of forward.
The deal advocates for the adoption of excessive use, almost tripling the use of renewable energy and doubling the energy efficiency. The conference had previously decided to set up a special fund that attracted funds equivalent to $800 million for poor nations that have been adversely affected by climate change.
The deal states that the shift would take place in a phased manner to achieve net-zero greenhouse emissions by 2050. It anticipates the world’s carbon emissions will peak in the year 2025 but leaves room for China to peak later.