COP28: ‘Beginning of the end’ for fossil fuels

The 28th session of the United Nations ’ Climate Change Conference put a spotlight on “the beginning of the end” of the fossil fuel era. [caption id="attachment_57139563" align="alignleft" width="398"] (Photo/United Nations)[/caption] More than 200 parties established a global stockade — the first of its kind — to ramp up climate action by the end of the decade, according to a Dec. 13 release from the United Nations. The climate change conference (COP28) was Nov. 30-Dec. 12 in Dubai. “The big news from the conference was that the concluding statement called for ‘transitioning 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 ,’” energy research and consulting firm Wood Mackenzie said in a COP28 highlights report. “Some countries said the statement did not go far enough. But it is still a significant moment, the first time the governments of the world have agreed on a goal to reduce consumption of oil, gas and coal.” This step is crucial to accelerating targets of the Paris Agreement, the 2015 treaty signed by 195 of 198 parties to the convention, to keep global temperatures from increasing beyond 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels by 2050, according to the U.N. SAF collaborations In aviation, which accounts for 2% of global emissions , this means scaling up sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) feedstock and offering government incentives to lower its cost, nonprofit clean energy researchers from Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) told Air Cargo Next . “There was a COP28 event about the SAFc Registry, founded by RMI and [the Environmental Defense Fund ] in collaboration with [the Sustainable Aviation Buyers Alliance ] regarding a new digital registry for sustainable aviation fuel certificates [SAFc] that will support and accelerate the deployment of SAF by bringing more transparency to emissions reduction claims about air transport,” RMI spokesperson Rachel Sarah said. The registry connects corporate consumers, airlines, freight forwarders and clean fuel producers through a universally accessible platform that encourages SAF use through the purchase of an SAF certificate, she said. “The careful, transparent design of the registry builds on industry best practices and went through public consultation to ensure that the SAF certificates exchanged realize their intended environmental impact and can be claimed towards emissions reduction goals,” RMI stated in a Dec. 6 release. Main takeaways Other highlights from COP28, according to the U.N., included: Parties of the World Climate Action Summit reached an agreement on operation of the loss and damage fund and funding arrangements. Commitments to the fund total more than $700 million to date. Parties agreed on targets for the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA) and its framework, which identify benchmarks that will enable the planet to be resilient to the impacts of a changing climate and assess countries’ efforts. The GGA framework reflects a global consensus on adaptation targets and the need for finance, technology and capacity-building support to achieve them. The Green Climate Fund received a boost to its second replenishment, with six countries pledging new funding. Total pledges now stand at $12.8 billion from 31 countries. Eight donor governments announced new commitments to the Least Developed Countries Fund and Special Climate Change Fund totaling more than $174 million, while new pledges, totaling nearly $188 million, were made to the Adaptation Fund. Discussions on a “new collective quantified goal on climate finance” in 2024 continued, considering the needs and priorities of developing countries. The new goal, which will start from a baseline of $100 billion per year, will be a building block for the design and subsequent implementation of national climate plans that need to be delivered by 2025.

COP28: ‘Beginning of the end’ for fossil fuels

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