CoP-28's outcome should be celebrated for its big ‘no excuses’ call to action
The Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change finished its 28th session (CoP-28) later than scheduled, but creating a strong hope that the world would have a better chance of mitigating the climate impact of human-induced emissions of greenhouse gases. There were many announcements made in the two weeks of the Conference.
The Global Climate Action Portal tracked over 170 of them, more than double the count of CoP-27. But the biggest and most fought-for breakthrough came in the last hours of the Global Stocktake, wherein the Conference agreed to “transition away from fossil fuels." Starting with a position, as articulated by the CoP-28 President, that there is “no science" asking for a phase-out of fossil fuels to limit global warming to 1.5° Celsius above pre- industrial levels, it was a long journey towards a conclusion that calls for global efforts to 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 in keeping with the science." With this, a year of climate related trepidation comes to an end—with an outcome that needs to be celebrated for its comprehensive inclusivity of actors, its commitment to action on mitigation and also adaptation, the pledging of finances towards the Loss and Damage Fund in particular, signalling ownership of responsibility, and many other wins.
Most importantly, the outcome needs to be celebrated for aligning governments and industry, and indeed all other stakeholders, towards an agenda that taken in isolation could topple governments and destabilize industrial giants—transitioning away from fossil fuels. Yes, this is less than a call for
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