World News Digest (COP28 Special Edition): December 6, 2023
International news headlines and breaking news from The Bassiouni Group -- freshly delivered every Wednesday. This week, we focus on COP28, which just concluded in Abu Dhabi. Here are some key headlines and curated articles.
CARBON BRIEF: Key outcomes agreed at the UN climate talks in Dubai
Nearly every country in the world has agreed to “transition away from fossil fuels” – the main driver of climate change – at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai. It is the first time such an agreement has been reached in 28 years of international climate negotiations. The commitment is included in the first “global stocktake” of how countries can accelerate action to meet the goals of the landmark Paris Agreement. However, many countries walked away from the talks frustrated at the lack of a clear call for a fossil-fuel “phase-out” this decade – and at a “litany of loopholes” in the text that might enable the production and consumption of coal, oil and gas to continue.
THE INDEPENDENT: COP 28: Five Key Takeways From This Year’s Client Summit
“The curtain has fallen on the Cop28 climate summit, which ended with a historic deal calling for a “transition away” from fossil fuels. After two weeks of talks, Cop28 president Sultan al-Jaber gavelled the final deal at 11am on Wednesday, exactly 24 hours after the official end of the summit. The summit saw a fierce battle between countries that wanted language to include the “phase out” of fossil fuels and those against it, led by oil-producing nations such as Saudi Arabia. The deal was hailed by the United Nations as “the beginning of the end for the fossil fuel era. Here are some of the main takeaways from the summit.”
UNFCC: COP28 Agreement Signals “Beginning of the End” of the Fossil Fuel Era
“The United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) closed today 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,” 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.”
CLIMATE ACTION NEWORK: COP 28— New Path to Transition Away from Fossil Fuels Marred by Lack of Finance and Loopholes “Climate Action Network together with civil society across the world, using our collective power, succeeded in centering the end of fossil fuels through a fair, fast and funded just transition at COP28 in Dubai. Our mobilisations through the year and in the corridors of the COP28 resulted in countries agreeing to transition away from fossil fuels. This is the first time that the COP acknowledges and agrees to address the main cause of the climate crisis and sends a signal on the end the era of fossil fuel era. However, this road to transition away from fossil fuels will be at risk from the start because yet again there is no agreement on how this energy transition will be funded and how historical polluters will take responsibility for ensuring that justice and equity is delivered for the vulnerable peoples and countries in the global South. The lack of finance and the loopholes of false solutions included in the agreement cannot be a backdoor to the fossil fuel industry that obstructs the full transition away from fossil fuels.”
UN NEWS: COP28 ends with call to ‘transition away’ from fossil fuels; UN’s Guterres says phaseout is inevitable
Reacting to the adoption of the outcome document, UN chief António Guterres said that mention of the world’s leading contributor to climate change comes after many years in which the discussion of this issue was blocked. He stressed that the era of fossil fuels must end with justice and equity. “To those who opposed a clear reference to a phaseout of fossil fuels in the COP28 text, I want to say that a fossil fuel phase out is inevitable whether they like it or not. Let’s hope it doesn’t come too late,” added the Secretary-General. The latest edition of the annual UN climate conference has been running in Dubai, the largest city in the United Arab Emirates, since 30 November.
AP: Analysis — At COP28, Sultan al-Jaber got what the UAE wanted. Others leave it wanting much more
“As the United Nations COP28 climate summit ended Wednesday, Sultan al-Jaber walked out with what the United Arab Emirates wanted all along — the prestige of hosting negotiations that got the world to agree to transition away from fossil fuels while still being able to pump ever-more oil. That left some wanting much more from the two weeks of talks, even as many praised its historic accord. But it no longer will matter to the state oil company chief executive and renewable energy advocate who embodies many of the traits that have propelled this young nation into the global spotlight.”
AL JAZEERA: COP28 Dubai is over: Four key highlights from the UN climate summit
Hundreds of world leaders and climate experts gathered at this year’s United Nations climate conference to witness the approval of a climate disaster “loss and damage fund” and a disputed agreement on transitioning away from fossil fuels while countries faced crushing assessments of their carbon emissions. States attending the 2023 Conference of the Parties or COP28 were under pressure to adopt a new climate agreement amid controversy over the appointment of Sultan al-Jaber as president because of his position as a United Arab Emirates’s oil tycoon and his alleged questioning of climate science. Countries were also found to be falling behind in the first review of their progress towards reducing emissions to keep global warming in check.