The commitment, led by the European Union, the United States and the UAE, also indicated that tripling renewable energy will help eliminate CO2-emitting fossil fuels from the global energy system by 2050 at the latest.
Brazil, Nigeria, Australia, Japan, Canada, Chile and Barbados endorsed the pledge on Saturday. Although China and India have expressed support for tripling renewable energy by 2030, neither endorsed Saturday’s overall commitment, which combines increasing clean energy with reducing the use of fossil fuels.
The EU and UAE, among others, want the commitment to renewable energy to be included in the final decision of the UN climate summit to make it a global goal. This would require the consensus of the almost 200 countries present.
The draft pledge, first reported by Reuters last month, also called for “the phasing out of coal power” and an end to funding for new coal-fired power plants. It also included the goal of doubling the global energy efficiency rate by 2030.
Countries vulnerable to climate change insisted that the goals must be accompanied by an agreement between countries at COP28 to progressively eliminate the global use of fossil fuels.
“It’s only half the solution. Compromise cannot wash the face of countries that are simultaneously increasing fossil fuel production,” said Tina Stege, Marshall Islands Climate Envoy.
Although the deployment of renewable energy such as solar and wind has been growing around the world for years, rising costs, labor limitations and supply chain problems have forced projects to be delayed and canceled in recent months, costing billions of dollars in losses to developers like Orsted and BP.
Reaching the goal of 10,000 gigawatts of renewable energy installed worldwide by 2030 will also require governments and financial institutions to increase investments and address the high cost of capital that has hampered renewable energy projects in developing countries.
“There is still a mismatch between our potential and our limitations in attracting investment,” said Najib Ahmed, a consultant at Somalia’s Climate Ministry.
Africa has received only 2% of global investments in renewable energy in the last two decades, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency.
NUCLEAR ENERGY
More than 20 countries also signed a declaration on Saturday with the goal of tripling nuclear energy capacity by 2050. US climate envoy John Kerry said the world cannot reach “net zero” emissions without building new reactors.
“We are not saying that this is going to be the definitive alternative to any other energy source,” Kerry declared during the COP28 presentation ceremony. “But you can’t get to net zero emissions in 2050 without some nuclear power, just as you can’t get there without some use of carbon capture, utilization and storage.”
Global nuclear capacity currently stands at 370 gigawatts, with 31 countries having reactors. Triple that capacity by 2050 would require a significant increase in new authorizations and funding.
Other commitments targeted coal, the fossil fuel that emits the most CO2.
France announced that it will bring together a group of countries to ask the OECD to assess the climate and financial risks of investing in new coal assets, in order to discourage private investors from backing projects.
Coal consumers Kosovo and the Dominican Republic also agreed to draw up plans to phase out their coal-based electricity production.
Meanwhile, almost 50 oil and gas companies, including Exxon Mobil, signed the Oil and Gas Decarbonization Charter, an initiative promoted by Al-Jaber to reduce operational emissions by 2050.
The letter was criticized by environmental groups who said the commitments are nothing more than a distraction and do not address emissions caused by burning fossil fuels.
“The pledge does not cover a drop of the fuel they sell, which represents up to 95% of the oil and gas industry’s contribution to the climate crisis,” said Melanie Robinson of the World Resources Institute.
METHANE EMISSIONS
Washington also unveiled final rules aimed at curbing methane emissions from its oil and gas industry, as part of a global plan to curb emissions that contribute to climate change.
Meanwhile, several governments, philanthropic organizations and the private sector announced the mobilization of $1 billion in grants to support countries’ efforts in the fight against this powerful gas.
Two large methane emitters, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan, joined the Global Methane Pledge, a voluntary agreement of more than 150 countries to reduce their emissions by 30% by 2030.
The World Bank on Saturday launched an 18-month “methane reduction plan” that will establish 15 national programs aimed at reducing methane emissions from activities such as rice production, livestock farming and waste management.
Source: Ambito
