UN Climate Conference Agrees On World Without Fossil Fuels

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

DUBAI/BALI (Worthy News) – Delegates at the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP28, have approved a deal to “transition” the world away from fossil fuels.

Backers of the agreement say a “historic deal” was struck in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, one of the world’s biggest oil and natural gas producers.

But it wasn’t immediately clear when alternative energy resources available or still imagined would fill all the gaps in a rapidly growing world economy.

The 70,000-plus delegates in Dubai logging in airmiles on CO2-emitting airplanes, including world leaders arriving on private jets, disagreed on phasing out fossil fuels immediately.

Their statement speaks of “Transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems, in a just, orderly and equitable manner, accelerating action in this critical decade, so as to achieve net zero by 2050 in keeping with the science.”

It also includes the goal of “tripling” the capacity of renewable energies by 2030 and doubling the pace of energy efficiency during this period, something the Group of 20 countries already committed to.

Yet Worthy News observed that in countries such as Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s largest economy, most people aren’t in a hurry to exchange their fossil-fueled motorbikes or cars for bicycles or electronic variants.

MOTORBIKES, CARS

Near beaches of the Indonesian tropical island of Bali, motorbikes and cars are piling up. Similar scenes have been observed in other Asian nations ranging from India to Thailand.

Yet in Dubai, delegates seem convinced that economic growth in emerging Asian or African nations can be done without reliance on fossil fuels, though it wasn’t clear how.

Yet Norway’s Minister for Climate and the Environment, Espen Barth Eide, expressed optimism. “It is the first time the world unites around such a clear text on the need to transition away from fossil fuels. It has been the elephant in the room. At last, we finally address it head-on. This is the outcome of extremely many conversations and intense diplomacy.”

Stephen Cornelius, the World Wildlife Fund‘s deputy global climate and energy leader, said, “This draft is a sorely needed improvement from the last version, which rightly caused outrage. The language on fossil fuels is much improved, but still falls short of calling for the full phase-out of coal, oil, and gas.”

Yet Catherine Abreu, the founder of the nonprofit Destination Zero group, said the text “provides a very clear signal on the end of the fossil fuel era, calling on all parties to contribute to global efforts to transition away from fossil fuels, beginning in this decade, in keeping with the science of 1.5 [degrees global warming].”

She said she wanted “the deal to be clearer on which countries should take the lead on the transition” and, last but not least, “who should finance it.”

Those questions remained unanswered at COP28, but delegates seem to believe they made progress.

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