“We must be proud of this historic achievement,” declared the President of COP28, the Emirati Sultan al-Jaber, on Wednesday, announcing the adoption of this text during the closing plenary session.
Published
Update
Reading time: 1 min
:quality(50)/2023/12/13/000-347t4zt-65797e09ee536178101159.jpg)
Consensus in Dubai. The countries participating in COP28 agreed, Wednesday, December 13, on a final text which calls for a “transition away from fossil fuels” to fight against global warming. This text aims to accelerate action “in this crucial decade, in order to achieve carbon neutrality in 2050”.
This global agreement, which aims to become the first decision of a UN climate conference to address the fate of all fossil fuels (oil, gas and coal), does not explicitly reintroduce the term “exit” demanded by the most ambitious countries, but refused by oil-producing countries, Saudi Arabia in the lead.
“Historic” decision
The call to accelerate action this decade was a demand from the European Union and many other countries. This is a decision “historic to accelerate climate action”declared Sultan al-Jaber, Emirati president of the UN climate conference and also boss of the oil company Adnoc. “We have wording on fossil fuels in the final agreement, for the first time”he added, triggering further applause during the summit’s closing plenary session. “We should be proud of this historic success and the United Arab Emirates, my country, is proud of its role in achieving this”he added.
“We are leaving Dubai with our heads held high.”
Sultan al-Jaber, president of COP28during his closing speech
The alliance of small island states (Aosis), at the forefront of demanding strong measures against fossil fuels, thus both welcomed a “improvement” and reported “concerns”. “If Glasgow [en 2021] was the first crack in the dam with the call to reduce coal, now it’s a big break with the expansion to oil and gas”welcomed Alden Meyer, of the E3G think tank.
