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There was a flurry of big announcements at the UN Climate Conference (COP28) in Dubai on Saturday, including a pledge to triple renewable energy capacity globally by 2030 and a decarbonisation charter for the oil and gas industry. But in terms of negotiations on sticky issues, there remained major differences among developed and developing countries on the delivery of the long promised $100 billion in climate finance and on the shape and messaging of the Global Stocktake.
Around 118 countries signed a pledge to triple the world’s current renewable energy generation capacity to at least 11,000 GW by 2030, taking into consideration different starting points and national circumstances, COP28 Presidency United Arab Emirates announced on Saturday. This also included a commitment to work together in order to double the global average annual rate of energy efficiency improvements from around 2% to over 4% every year until 2030. The pledge looked to drive transformational change through effective policymaking, planning, and major investment decisions.
“This can and will help transition the world away from unabated coal,” said summit president Sultan al-Jaber, calling on other delegates “to come on board as soon as possible”.
Till Saturday evening, India and China were not among the signatories to the pledge, with India in the process of consulting various groups to be able to make an informed call, officials said.
“We are trying to take an informed call. We are having consultations and trying to understand various aspects associated with this commitment,” a senior official, asking not to be named, said.
Observers said India and China kept off from signing the pledge because it was also linked to phasing out unabated coal.
This commitment on renewable energy was first reflected in the G20 New Delhi Declaration released, under India’s presidency, in September. G20 countries committed to achieving global net-zero emissions by or around mid-century and tripling renewable energy capacity globally, as well as demonstrating similar ambition with respect to other zero and low-emission technologies, by 2030.
The International Energy Agency and the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) have forecast that to limit warming to 1.5°C the world requires three times more renewable energy capacity by 2030, and must double the global average annual rate of energy efficiency.
UAE and Saudi Arabia also announced that 50 oil and gas companies — representing more than 40% of global oil production — had joined the Oil and Gas Decarbonization Charter, which called on the industry to align around net zero by 2050, zero-out methane emissions, and eliminate routine flaring by 2030.
“The world does not work without energy. Yet the world will break down if we do not fix energies we use today, mitigate their emissions at a gigaton scale, and rapidly transition to zero carbon alternatives. That is why the COP28 Presidency has launched the Global Decarbonization Accelerator,” al-Jaber said, during the launch of the pledge.
Under the plan, countrieswill mobilise $1 billion in support of economy-wide methane-emission reduction, the Presidency said.
Separately, more than 20 countries, led by the US, launched a pledge to triple nuclear energy capacity, which is considered a cleaner alternative to fossil fuels.
“Pleased to launch the Declaration to Triple Nuclear Energy at #COP28 with 20+ countries from four continents. Nuclear power that adheres to the highest standards of safety, sustainability, security, and non-proliferation has a key role to play in keeping 1.5 °C within reach,” US climate envoy John Kerry said in a post on X. Environmental groups have expressed concerns about safety and the disposal of nuclear waste.
Also read: Union minister R K Singh advocates nuclear power amid storage challenges
The US also joined 56 other countries in a commitment to end unabated use of coal, a huge factor in global warming.
“At #COP28, I joined President @EmmanuelMacron & other leaders to proudly announce the United States is joining the Powering Past Coal Alliance. We will work with partners around the world to phase out unabated coal, an absolutely essential step for keeping 1.5 °C within reach,” Kerry said on X.
Meanwhile, India and China kept away from major announcements. According to a briefing by Third World Network, a non-profit international research and advocacy group, differences arose over whether and how to capture progress on the $100 billion goal of developed countries.
While developed countries cited the latest report by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which suggested that the goal appeared to have been met in 2023, developing countries said that there is no place for conjecture in relation to numbers on climate finance.
“We can’t say that it has been delivered. What does may have been delivered mean?” said a senior official from India, quoted above.
Also, a briefing by the International Institute of Sustainable Development said several countries had concerns with aspects of the Global Stocktake (GST) draft text that was released on Friday.
HT reported that the first draft text of the GST was released with “textual building blocks” of the final GST that will be included in the Dubai agreement expected by December 12-13.
The building blocks retained all important elements of meeting the Paris goal of keeping the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit the temperature rise to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
It is important to remember that these are merely directional as far as GST is concerned, meaning that countries will negotiate on the building blocks to arrive on a final consensus.
Ajay Mathur, director-general at the International Solar Alliance, said, the pledge on renewable energy “will help both development and climate change mitigation”.
But some experts were sceptical of the pledges. The summit comes at a time when recent estimates have suggested that the world is on track for an alarming 2.5 to 2.9°C of warming by the end of this century. 2023 is also on track to be the hottest year ever.
“Yet again, we observe a huge gulf between the internal negotiations and the external grandstanding by governments. Without an equitable fossil fuel phase-out, and financial support for a just transition in developing nations, these pronouncements are mere distractions,” said Harjeet Singh, head of global political strategy at Climate Action Network International.
Madhura Joshi, Senior Associate, India Energy Transition Lead, E3G, said, India’s decision not the sign the renewable energy pledge, despite being a “global renewables leader”, was “disheartening”.
“These were landmark decisions that were championed by the Indian G20 presidency and agreed to by G20 leaders in September 2023,” she said, adding, “The hope is that India will champion tripling renewables and doubling energy efficiency by 2030 at COP28 in the main text. Its support will provide a boost for the global renewables sector.”
India, China yet to sign pledge on renewable energy capacity – Hindustan Times
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