Transition away from fossil fuel: Pledge by 200 nations

About 150 years after the oil refineries were set up for mass use and about 2000 years after coal was first used by man, about 200 nations got together to chart a future for mankind that involves a “transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems”. The nations met in the UAE to undertake that pledge for the first time to achieve the goal of net zero emissions by 2050 – a consensus that capped two weeks of hectic negotiations – that has come to be described as a pivotal landmark in the battle against environmental degradation.
Incidentally, this is 20 years ahead of India’s pledge to achieve net zero by 2070 – a target the country committed to in the 26th session of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 26) in November 2021 in Paris.

“We have delivered a paradigm shift that has the potential to redefine our economies,” said Sultan al-Jaber, president of COP28. However, he cautioned that any pledge is worth its implementation. “An agreement is only as good as its implementation. We are what we do, not what we say,” he said rhetorically.

“Whilst we didn’t turn the page on the fossil fuel era in Dubai, this outcome is the beginning of the end,” said Simon Stiell, executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change at the closing session.
Senior policy adviser, climate change, Oxfam, Jan Kowalzig said, “The final outcome is certainly a clear signal from the global community, heralding a gradual shift away from fossil fuels. However, this signal comes with annoying concessions that jeopardise compliance with the 1.5 degrees C threshold.”

Incidentally, the “1.5 degrees C threshold” refers to the demand for quick measures to limit global warming to 1.5 degree Celsius.

It also indicates to the difficult task that faced the COP28 president and his team, who waded through conflicting strong interests for two weeks. During this period, oil and gas-producing countries such as Saudi Arabia battled against any possibility of including a call to phase out fossil fuels. The country is the chair of the Arab Group and it claimed the support of 18 countries – it lent Saudi Arabia the clout to block any deal. OPEC too joined forces to apply pressure on the COP28 presidency.

The Indian Perspective

For India, which has an energy-hungry growing economy with a huge population trying to climb out of poverty, the aggressive call to phase out coal was certainly a cause for concern. The final deal has called for prompt phasedown of unabated coal. Incidentally, “unabated” coal refers to coal burnt without capturing the carbon and storage which obviously pollutes the climate.

Incidentally, coal is the only fossil fuel referred to in the text. “From an Indian perspective, this text displays greater parity between coal and other fossil fuels, but it appears to absolve developed countries of the responsibility of phasing out their fossil fuel use in this critical decade,” Ulka Kelkar, executive director, climate, World Resources Institute India told The Economic Times.

Some pointed out that the deal fails to help countries adapt to climate change, which is a top priority for developing countries and especially the least developed ones. There is mention of the need to scale up adaptation money but the text stops short of indicating how this would be achieved.

“It exonerates developed countries from making up the finance gap so (wide), though it recognises that the gap in adaptation finance is ‘widening,’ and that doubling the current low levels of adaptation finance will be insufficient,” added Kelkar.

Arunabha Ghosh, chief executive of Delhi-based think tank Council on Energy, Environment and Water could barely hide his disappointment. COP28 began on a positive note but it “largely disappointed on all fronts,” he said. “It hasn’t sufficiently raised climate ambition, held historical polluters accountable, or established effective mechanisms to finance climate resilience and a just low-carbon transition for the Global South,” added Ghosh.