Nearly 200 countries agreed Wednesday to a historic climate deal that calls for a global transition away from fossil fuels.
Following days of negotiations, the U.N. climate summit in Dubai agreed on a new deal that includes its first ever call to move away from the use of fossil fuels.
“We have language on fossil fuel in our final agreement for the first time ever,” COP28 president Sultan al-Jaber said.
The deal, notably, does not include a global “phase out” of fossil fuels, as nearly 100 countries called for in a joint statement. Rather, the deal calls on countries to “transition away” from fossil fuels, which some critics are calling a loophole that will allow countries to continue drilling and contributing to climate change.
Below is a breakdown of what is included in the climate deal and what’s missing:
What’s included in the COP28 deal?
The deal calls on nations to:
- Triple renewable energy capacity globally by 2030.
- Double energy efficiency improvements at a global scale by 2030.
- Accelerate efforts toward the phase-down of unabated coal power.
- Accelerate efforts globally toward net zero emission energy systems, utilizing zero- and low-carbon fuels well before or by around mid-century.
- Transition 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.
- Accelerate zero- and low-emission technologies.
- Reduce non-carbon-dioxide emissions globally, including in particular methane emissions by 2030.
- Reduce emissions from road transport.
- Phase out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies.
What’s missing from the COP28 deal?
Some critics of the deal say that it doesn’t go far enough in cutting back on fossil fuels.
“The problem with the text is that it still includes cavernous loopholes that allow the United States and other fossil fuel producing countries to keep going on their expansion of fossil fuels,” Center for Biological Diversity energy justice director Jean Su told The Associated Press. “There’s a pretty deadly, fatal flaw in the text, which allows for transitional fuels to continue.”
What’s more, the pact does not outlaw the construction of new coal-burning power plants or include “commitments to help finance poorer nations’ energy transitions,” The New York Times reported.
“The finance and equity provisions ... are seriously insufficient and must be improved in the time ahead in order to ensure low- and middle-income countries can transition to clean energy and close the energy poverty gap,” Rachel Cleetus, policy director at the Union of Concerned Scientists, told Reuters.