As parts of ongoing efforts to boost a global deal on phasing out fossil fuel after it suffered a major setback last year’s COP27 summit in Egypt, European Union countries have now reached an agreement to promote the deal ahead of the United Nation’s COP28 climate summit this year.
Ministers from the 27 EU member states on Thursday approved a text on their diplomatic priorities ahead of the COP28 summit, which begins on Nov. 30 in Dubai, where nearly 200 countries are expected to be present to negotiate how to strengthen efforts to rein in climate change.
Part of the EU text said moving towards a climate neutral economy will require the global phase-out of unabated fossil fuels as it cited the scientific consensus that this is necessary to avoid more severe climate change.
“The EU will systematically promote and call for a global move towards energy systems free of unabated fossil fuels well ahead of 2050,” it said, adding that global fossil fuel consumption should peak in the near term.
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Europe is on course to transforming its energy system as parts of requirements to meet its climate targets and also discontinue its decades of reliance on Russian fossil fuels and the text urge countries to combine the two aims and use renewable energy rather than fossil fuels to replace Russian energy.
“There is no need for a one-to-one replacement of former Russian natural gas import volumes,” it said.
More than 80 countries, including the EU, supported an Indian proposal on a global deal on phasing out CO2-emitting fossil fuels at last year’s summit, but were opposed by Saudi Arabia and other oil and gas-rich nations. However, some countries are hoping this year’s COP28 summit could clinch a global deal on phasing out CO2-emitting fossil fuels especially oil and gas after agrrement had been reached on coal at previous U.N. climate talks.
Disagreement among countries over whether the deal should promote nuclear energy had delayed the approval of EU climate text by two weeks after it was first announced last month.
The final version made some adjustments to the text by removing wording that countries had disagreed on, but said that alongside renewable energy, EU diplomacy will promote sustainable “low-carbon technologies” – a phrase that often refers to nuclear energy.
Story was adapted from Reuters.
