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Cop28 deal includes oil and gas goals for first time

Cop28 deal includes oil and gas goals for first time
The giants of carbon energy came to the UAE Cop to praise fossil fuels – then agreed to start leaving them in the ground. They still have plenty of wriggle room, but the final text is progress

For the first time, countries at talks to tackle climate change have agreed a global deal to transition from fossil fuels.

So what? Agreed in the hottest year on record, the Cop28 pact is a signal to business and society that this is the beginning of the end for oil, gas and coal.

The agreement doesn’t include a call for the “phaseout” of fossil fuels, which European countries and many of those nations most at risk from climate change wanted. That was stymied after a pushback from oil-producing countries.

But the diplomatic-speak has been hardened up.

  • An earlier draft agreement offered a list of actions that countries “could” take.
  • This deal offers slightly tougher wording, which “calls on” countries to transition from fossil fuels to hit net zero greenhouse gas emissions by the middle of this century.
  • That said, they can do it in a “just, orderly and equitable” manner, yet to be defined.

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