After landmark moves, climate talks hit again over coal, fossil fuel action

NEGOTIATORS ARE NOW BACK TO CONTENTIOUS ISSUES AROUND PHASING OUT COAL AND OTHER FOSSIL FUELS, AND A CONSENSUS ON CLIMATE FINANCE

- Jayashree Nandi

Deep fissures have emerged between developing countries still highly dependent on coal to power their economies and rich nations that have pledged to move away from new coal but are silent on abandoning other fossil fuels such as oil and gas that run their economies, threatening to further delay consensus on core aspects of the world’s efforts to fight the climate crisis.

Observers and experts aware of discussions said that while this year’s UN Climate Conference (COP28) being held in Dubai began with big ticket announcements, negotiators are now back to contentious issues around phasing out coal and other fossil fuels, and climate finance.

“Overall on the narrative on the forward-looking aspects of the GST (global stocktake), the Global North sees it heavily focusing on mitigation while the Global South sees more mandates for scaled up finance as necessary. There is little clarity on what the final text will incorporate at this stage,” said Tamanna Sengupta, programme officer, Climate Change, Centre for Science and Environment.

COP28 began on November 30 with a landmark operationalising of the Loss and Damage Fund, which will help nations most vulnerable to climate calamities cope with the consequences of the crisis. On Saturday, 118 countries signed a pledge to triple renewable energy capacity by 2030.

But negotiators from around the world, including those representing nations with varied interests and obligations, are now working on developing consensus, including on the global stocktake — a process that will assess the progress made by countries on slashing greenhouse gas emissions, building resilience to climate impacts, securing finance, and identifying areas where further action is needed.