COP28 Deal Agrees Shift Away From Fossil Fuels For First Time

The Conference of the Parties (COP) have agreed to a deal - referred to as the 'UAE consensus' - that for the first time calls on countries to transition away from fossil fuels. The text was gavelled through rapidly, with some countries - notably the Pacific Island nations - arguing they were not properly consulted. Despite criticisms of the deal for containing loopholes or not being stringent enough in ensuring countries move away from fossil fuels, no delegates have opposed the deal.

• US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry: "Today, I would join with Xie Zhenhua and the Chinese delegation in announcing that the United States and China ... based on the many initiatives set out in the global stocktake decisions, we will again update our long term strategies and we invite other parties to join us in doing so,"
• The inclusion of text calling on countries to end fossil fuels use comes in stark contrast to the meeting of Arab energy ministerson 12 Dec, where the closing statement said that O&G will be the "pillars of global energy for many decades to come,"
• Indeed, several days ago OPEC Secretary General Haitham Al Ghais sent a letterto OPEC+ members calling on them to "proactively reject any text or formula that targets energy i.e. fossil fuels rather than emissions".