Road to COP28 [Gas in Transition]

Road to COP28 [Gas in Transition]

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Natural Gas News
Road to COP28 [Gas in Transition]

Summary

The biggest issues likely to occupy centre-stage at COP28 are drastic cuts in emissions, the role of fossil fuels, the responsibility of developed countries to aid developing countries with the cost of energy transition and climate change adaptation. [Gas in Transition, Volume 3, Issue 10] by: Charles Ellinas

The COP28 climate talks are scheduled to start at the end of November in Dubai and are expected to set the direction for how the world will tackle and contain the impact of climate change over the rest of this decade. The COP28 summit will be the first formal assessment of countries’ progress towards the Paris Agreement’s target to limit climate change to 1.5oC of warming and it is expected to be intense and contentious. The biggest issues likely to occupy centre-stage at COP28 are drastic cuts in emissions, the role of fossil fuels, the responsibility of developed countries to aid developing countries with the cost of energy transition and climate change adaptation. The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has been trying to build momentum on the way to COP28. This culminated with the release in September of a review of the progress on meeting the Paris Agreement goals by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), referred to as the ‘stocktake’. This takes place every five years and is designed to show how promises compare with what actually happened, and push nations to step up their efforts to reduce emissions, culminating with talks and decision making at COP28. As expected, the stocktake found that the world is far off track. Countries’ current policies and pledges would fail to meet that goal. Meeting Paris Agreement and net-zero by 2050 goals would require drastic cuts in emissions by 2030 (see figure 1). This has increased pressure on phasing out fossil fuels. But ...