Opinion piece by Chair Pascal Lamy, Commissioners Kim Campbell, Anote Tong, Hina Rabbani Khar, Xue Lan, Frances Beinecke and Arancha Gonzalez Laya, 23 January 2023
COP28 concluded with the so-called UAE Consensus, the highest-profile part of which is a call for “transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems, in a just, orderly and equitable manner”.
Although it’s considered a step forward, this falls short of calls for a complete phase-out of oil, gas and coal, including the recommendation we – members of the Climate Overshoot Commission – made for governments to decide on a phase-out in production and consumption of fossil fuels, and accelerate their trajectories to this end in a differentiated way for industrialised and other countries.
The phase-out of fossil fuels is necessary to avoid climate catastrophe, but fossil fuel producers and large economies worried about negative consequences for industry have resisted a phase-out for years. These worries are understandable and can be addressed in constructive ways, yet they are routinely stoked by a fossil fuel industry more concerned with its financial interests than with the devastating impacts of global warming.
Unfortunately, genuine disagreements stemming from different national interests, priorities and circumstances are resulting in growing and worrisome tensions between developed and developing economies.
The opinion piece published by the Daily Maverick can be read here.