This issue is central to the discussions at the summit, following a year of extreme weather events and record heat. While clean energy adoption is growing, many energy companies plan to continue fossil fuel production. Concurrently, scientists reported an increase in heat-trapping carbon dioxide emissions globally. Protests within designated zones around the summit emphasized the importance of ending fossil fuel use and increasing clean energy financing.
Activists convened a series of events and actions on Tuesday during the United Nations climate summit, aimed at intensifying pressure on conference attendees to commit to phasing out coal, oil, and gas – the primary sources of global emissions – in favor of an equitable transition to clean energy.
The issue of how to address fossil fuels is at the heart of the summit’s discussions, which occur against the backdrop of a year marked by record heatwaves and devastating extreme weather events worldwide. Despite the growing adoption of clean energy, the majority of energy companies have intentions to continue their aggressive pursuit of fossil fuel production well into the future.
On Tuesday, a team of scientists reported that global carbon dioxide emissions, a major contributor to climate change, increased by 1.1% compared to the previous year. This surge is largely attributed to heightened pollution in China and India.
Protests during the summit, confined to designated “action zones” near the U.N. site, predominantly revolved around the urgent need to phase out fossil fuels and the call for increased financing to facilitate the transition to clean energy.
Concurrently, negotiations are underway regarding the “global stocktake,” a framework designed to facilitate the formulation of new national plans for adhering to the warming limits established in the 2015 Paris Agreement. A draft of this framework, released on Tuesday, will be carefully scrutinized by negotiators seeking ways to align their efforts with the agreement’s objectives.
Over 100 countries have committed to tripling their renewable energy capacity and doubling energy efficiency by the end of this decade.
COP28 President Sultan al-Jaber, who also serves as the head of the United Arab Emirates’ national oil company, faced criticism on Monday for making contradictory statements about phasing out fossil fuels. Al-Jaber clarified that his remarks had been misinterpreted and emphasized his unwavering focus on limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
Much of Monday’s summit discussions were centered on climate finance. Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley, known for advocating changes in global finance’s approach to developing nations, proposed the imposition of global taxes on financial services, oil and gas, and shipping industries. These taxes could generate substantial funds to help developing nations adapt to climate change, cope with its impacts, and transition to cleaner energy sources.
Mottley expressed optimism about progress made in the past year on climate finance pledges. However, she stressed that more needs to be done to meet the required targets.
World Bank President Ajay Banga outlined five key areas of focus in climate finance. The bank aims to reduce methane emissions from waste management and agriculture, support Africa in adopting cleaner energy sources, promote voluntary carbon markets like those for forest projects, and enable disaster-stricken developing countries to temporarily suspend debt repayments.
The World Bank seeks to substantially increase its role in climate finance, with 45% of its financing allocated to climate-related efforts by 2025. Half of these funds will be directed toward adapting to the warming climate, and the other half will be dedicated to emissions reduction.
Banga emphasized that climate finance should not solely focus on emissions reduction but should also address the downstream impacts experienced by countries in the Global South due to emissions-heavy growth in other parts of the world.
[Note: This article is republished from The Associated Press, with climate and environmental coverage receiving support from private foundations.]