A draft document whose content has been corroborated by officials shows that European Union countries may seek support for an agreement to phase down fossil fuels ahead of this year’s U.N. climate change talks in the United Arabs Emirates.
During the last summit in Egypt, India called for phasing down the use of all fossil fuels including oil and natural gas but no agreement was reached to the disappointment of many participants, yet the summit did not end without the agreement for a loss and damage fund for countries harmed by climate change.
According to the draft, EU country diplomats are negotiating conclusions to guide their diplomacy on climate change this year and one of those is an agreement to promote a shift away from unabated fossil fuels, those burned without using technology to capture their planet-warming emissions.
“While natural gas has a role in the transition, The draft says the shift towards a climate-neutral economy requires unabated fossil fuel consumption to peak already in the near term. The EU will systematically promote a global move towards energy systems free of unabated fossil fuels well ahead of 2050,” the draft says.
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Officials that supported the contents of the draft say that EU officials want to make fossil fuel phase-down part of the bloc’s diplomacy priorities ahead of COP28, and countries’ foreign affairs ministers are expected to reach final conclusions this month as some EU countries are seeking weaker wording while others want a stronger, more explicit call to phase out fossil fuels.
Countries agreed at COP26 in Glasgow in 2021 to phase down the use of coal, the most polluting fossil fuel. India’s COP27 proposal to expand that to all fossil fuels gained support from more than 80 governments, including EU countries, but was opposed by Saudi Arabia and other oil- and gas-rich countries and the final COP27 deal repeated the pledge to phase down coal power, but did not mention oil or gas.
Some officials and activists have expressed worry over the same thing being repeated this year at COP28, which is being hosted by the United Arab Emirates, an OPEC oil producer. U.N. scientists have also warned that the world must substantially reduce fossil fuel energy use this decade in order to avoid the most devastating impacts of climate change.
The EU also plans to update its 2030 emissions-cutting target under the Paris climate accord and set a new one for 2040 to guide countries toward the goal of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.
Story was adapted from Reuters.
