COP28 agreement hailed as ‘death knell’ for fossil fuels

Andrew Brown
Dec 13, 2023, updated Dec 13, 2023

Climate campaigners have hailed a COP28 agreement as "the death knell for fossil fuels". Photo: AAP

Australian climate campaigners have welcomed a deal agreed to at the COP28 summit that will push nations to “transition away” from fossil fuels.

The deal was backed by 198 countries at the United Nations climate summit in Dubai following marathon negotiations and uncertainty over whether fossil fuels would even be mentioned in the final agreement.

The deal to “transition away from fossil fuels” represents the first time oil, coal and gas have been mentioned in COP agreements since the annual summits began almost 30 years ago.

Tweet from @COP28_UAE

However, there was still criticism the agreement stopped short of calling for fossil fuels to be phased out.

Climate Council chief executive Amanda McKenzie said the agreement, which also urged countries to triple global renewable energy capacity, was significant.

“This is a huge moment,” she said.

“For the first time, nations have collectively agreed to tackle pollution – from burning coal, oil and gas – that is overheating our planet and harming people all over the world.

“This is the death knell for fossil fuels.

“This agreement sets us on a clear path to embrace clean energy technology like wind, solar and batteries, and move beyond fossil fuels.”

Tweet from @Oxfam

Greenpeace Australia Pacific chief executive David Ritter welcomed the agreement but said Australia needed to step up to cut its use of fossil fuels.

“While this isn’t what we hoped for, the text sends a clear message that there is an overwhelming momentum to end the fossil fuel era,” he said.

“Now we need developed countries to take the lead – to transition their economies in a way that is fast, fair and places justice at its core – and to offer financial support to the most climate-vulnerable nations.”

Greens leader Adam Bandt said the statement from the summit did not go far enough but said the message for the federal government was clear.

“The weak word salad from the global climate summit proves one thing – Australia can’t wait for other countries before stopping new coal and gas mines,” he posted on social media platform X.

“Limiting global heating to 1.5 degrees Celsius means no new coal and gas at a minimum, yet Labor still wants more and the other petro-states do too.”

-AAP

Topics: COP28, fossil fuels