COP28 closes with a “historic” agreement that not everyone likes due to lack of forcefulness

The Dubai Climate Summit, COP28closed today with an agreement classified as “historical” because, for the first time, the need to leave fossil fuels behind to limit the global warming and that each country makes the transition based on its situation.

Although everyone appreciated that it represents progress, there were also many voices that criticized its lack of forcefulness and clarity in relation to the future of coal, oil and gas, and its gaps in financing and adaptation, especially with regard to the needs of the most vulnerable countries and, at the same time, with fewer resources.

After two weeks of negotiations and already in stoppage time (the summit officially ended on Tuesday), the text for the final agreement on the Global Balance, the most sought after of this summit, was published around seven in the morning (local time) and approved shortly after 11:00 by the plenary session as no country presented any objections.

The COP28 Global Balance puts an end to the first review process of the Paris Agreement to analyze what has been achieved since then and agree on the steps to follow to ensure that its objectives are met.

It highlights the need for an ecological transition that allows us to leave fossil fuels behind and reduce emissions to guarantee that average warming does not exceed 1.5 degrees at the end of the century compared to the pre-industrial era, as defended by science.

To this end, it opens a wide range of options whose adoption it leaves in the hands of each country and that range from accelerating renewables to using coal, oil and gas with zero or low emissions, passing through nuclear and recognizing the role that the “transition fuels” to guarantee the energy supply.

Political reactions

“It is a historic and unprecedented achievement“, stated in the plenary session the president of the COP28, Sultan Al Jaberwho before and during the Arab Emirates summit (seventh largest crude oil product in the world) was in the spotlight for being the executive director of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC).

After learning of the agreement, the secretary of the UNAntónio Guterres also described it as historic because, for the first time, it recognizes the need to leave fossil fuels behind, “after many years in which the debate on this issue was blocked”.

“The world has just adopted a historic decision (…) We have achieved what we set out to do: keep the 1.5 degree goal within reach and mark the beginning of the end of fossil fuels“, highlighted the European Commissioner for Climate Action, Wopke Hoekstra.

“More than 30 years have passed”, from the Rio summit, to “focus on a world beyond fossil fuels“said the Spanish Minister for the Energy Transition and voice in the COP28 of the Presidency of the Council of the EU, who also valued the progress made to support the most vulnerable countries.

The United States special climate envoy, John Kerry, claimed to be “amazed” with the “spirit of collaboration” between countries seen in the COP28a summit in which, in the midst of the conflicts that occur in the world -Ukraine or the Middle East- “multilateralism is taking over”.

During the plenary session, the speaker for Saudi Arabia, who spoke on behalf of the 22 countries of the Arab League, appreciated that different ways are being taken to keep the 1.5 degree objective alive in accordance with the characteristics of each country, as well as the need to do it “using all the technologies at our disposal”, such as zero or low emission fossil fuels.

The Indian spokesperson highlighted that they were able to be sent to the world “political messages” that reinforce the commitment of all parties to maintain the temperature goal of the Paris Agreement by reaching “help on the ground“, something of vital importance because: “We only have one earth and we all share the same future”.

The intervener for China He regretted that despite having reached an agreement “historical“, they failed to develop”altogether” the claims of the most vulnerable countries and said that the most developed countries must lead the transition and reach the reduction of their emissions as soon as possible while providing financial and technical support to the rest for a just transition.

Speaking on behalf of small island developing states, Samoa’s chief negotiator Anne Rasmusse criticized the agreement as not being ambitious enough to secure their future.

The planet, touched but not sunk

Planet Earth “still touched but not sunk“, stated the head of WWF’s Global Climate and Energy, Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, who estimated that the agreement focuses on the need for the world to “transition away from fossil fuels” and criticized that “It falls short” for the extinction of coal, oil and gas.

The Climate Action Network organization noted that the decision “puts the real culprits of the climate crisis in the spotlight: fossil fuels”, although he warned that it presents “holes“which the oil industry can escape by supporting”untested and insecure technologies” (CO2 capture and storage).

“It’s not the decision the world needs or deserves.”, but it represents progress because it calls for a transition to abandon fossil fuels, declared the Climate expert from GreenpeaceKaisa Kosonen.

The head of Energy and Climate at Ecologistas en Acción, Javier Andaluz, regretted that it is “far from being an answer” to the emergency and climate and, although he valued the progress it represents, he warned that there is no time to transition anywhere: “What we need is to make a rapid, fair and equitable transformation of fossil fuels”.