COP28: Draft agreement calls for reduction in 'consumption and production of fossil fuels'

investmentweek.co.uk:

China climate envoy Xie Zhenhua heads to bilateral meeting earlier today | Credit: UNFCCC

The UN climate talks are set for a dramatic final day, after the COP28 Presidency published a long-awaited draft of its proposals for a final deal in Dubai, including what could prove to be an historic call to reduce fossil fuel consumption and production «in a just, orderly and equitable manner so as to achieve net zero by, before or around 2050».

The latest iteration of the Global Stocktake — widely regarded as the most important document being negotiated at this year's UN Climate Summit — was published late afternoon local time, finally giving observers the clearest indication yet of the shape of a compromise deal that could be adopted by almost 200 countries.

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Crucially, the draft text axes previous references to the need to «phase out» unabated fossil fuels, following fierce opposition from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and others. But the latest iteration does still directly call for a reduction in fossil fuel consumption and production by around mid-century. If adopted, the text would mark the first time fossil fuels have been explicitly referenced in a UN climate accord and would build significantly on the 2021 commitment to «phase down» unabated coal power.

The proposed text «recognises the need for deep, rapid and sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions» and sets out eight broad actions that countries can take to achieve them, covering renewables, energy efficiency, coal power plants, fossil fuel subsidies, low carbon hydrogen and carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS) technologies, and non-CO2 sources of emissions, among other