Historic accord reached at COP28 in Dubai

It is indeed a proud moment for the United Arab Emirates as the COP28’s two-week meeting in Dubai ended with a historic agreement to move away from fossil fuels to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 and to treble renewable energy generation by 2030.

There were those who wanted stronger language against the use of fossil fuels, and to include in the agreement the phrase “phasing out”, and there were the OPEC members who argued that this was unrealistic and it is not right to shun one source of energy. The conference went into the extra day, and the hosts, the UAE, finally managed to strike the balancing note.

It was decided to frame the agreement as “transitioning away from fossil fuels”, which did not satisfy the hardliners but they had agreed.

It was no easy task to make  nearly 200 countries agree on issues, and yet without an agreement the climate summit would have hit a dead end. It was recognised that failure or deadlock was not an option. COP28 president and UAE Minister for Industry and Advanced Technology Sultan Al Jaber described the accord reached as “historic” but warned, “We are what we do, not what we say. We must take the steps necessary to turn this agreement into tangible actions.” It has been rightly called “the UAE Consensus”, where all parties had agreed on the wording of the accord which was essential to move forward. UAE President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan said, “I thank all the participating delegations that worked together to achieve the historic UAE Consensus to accelerate climate action. The conference produced significant results, and we will continue to work hand-in-hand with the global community to advance all efforts aimed at securing a more sustainable future for our planet and its people.”

The conference began with a positive note when all agreed on the damage and loss fund, which would be part of the World Bank setup but it will be administered independently. The contribution to the fund was modest but there was hope that it would pick up momentum as it goes along and the developed countries would step forward and do their bit. It was this early success that boosted the confidence of the host country, the UAE, and the other participating nations.

Western media had expressed doubt whether an oil- producing country like the UAE, surrounded by other oil-producing countries, would be able to reach an agreement where fossil fuels would be signed away. The reservations of the Western countries and Western media which was tinged with a hostile attitude was handled deftly by the UAE, when as the host country and president of COP28, it had to take the responsibility of reconciling the opposed views and forge an accord.

COP28 President Sultan Al-Jaber achieved that with patience and diplomacy. The fact that the UAE has been in the lead to make a decision on fossil fuels lends it greater credibility than if it had been achieved at any other venue. The Western countries tried very hard to impose a harsher wording on fossil fuels, but it would have been counterproductive. The phrasing agreed to finally was the right one. It did not set any deadlines, and it did not quantify how much of fossil fuels should be reduced in the energy systems.

Larger economies like China and India were opposed on the issue of the use of coal. They did not want to make any commitments. It was a diplomatic feat on the part of UAE to have brought China, India, the OPEC members and the developing countries to agree on the final wording.