COP28 was a decisive event as it focused on reaching consensus and collaborative actions to limit global temperature rise and limit the catastrophic climate change impacts.
There were some key focus areas where actions and commitments were agreed to at a global level:
- $700m (£556m) was pledged to the newly agreed Loss and Damage Fund, to provide financial support for irreversible annual losses in developing countries from global heating.
- 118 governments pledged to triple renewable energy production and double energy efficiency improvements by 2030 as part of Global Renewables and Energy Efficiency Pledge.
- 39 countries endorsed a Global Hydrogen Certification Standard for the rapid and coordinated development of technical standards as part of UAE Hydrogen Declaration of Intent.
- Under the Joint Action Plan to Drive Energy Transition, 31 partners, including 25 global utilities and power companies, committed to advance electrification, renewables-ready grids, and clean energy deployment in line with 2030/2050 goals.
- 50 companies, representing >40% of global oil and gas production signed the Oil and Gas Decarbonization Charter to address net zero emissions (Scope 1 & 2) by 2050.
- ~117 governments agreed to triple the capacity of renewable energy and double the rate of energy efficiency improvements globally by 2030.
- 22 countries pledged to triple nuclear capacity by 2050 to meet net zero goals.
- Former leaders pushed for a $25bn levy on oil states’ revenues to pay for climate damage on the world’s poorest and most vulnerable.
- Development Finance International revealed that a debt crisis involving the world’s poorest countries prevented them from scaling up investments in tackling global heating and called for a comprehensive debt cancellation scheme.
At the national level, substantial obligations were also undertaken by member nations to scale up efforts to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement:
- The United States outlined measures to cut methane emissions from its oil and gas industry by 80% (58m tonnes) by 2038 through new regulations.
- Canada ordered its fossil fuel industry to cut their emissions between 35-38% below 2019 levels from 2030 through a national cap-and-trade system.
- Australia would aim to create new rules to end international financing of fossil fuels across the OECD and commit signatories to phase out offshore support for coal, oil, and gas.
The road ahead
Amidst the numerous discussions, concerns over potential unjust influence were raised as >2,400 fossil fuel lobbyists were granted access to climate negotiations, along with ~475 lobbyists working on carbon capture and storage technologies, and >160 representatives with climate-denying track records.
Nonetheless, the COP28 summit did result in a landmark deal to transition away from fossil fuels to address adverse impacts of climate change. Although the agreement did not commit to a phase-down or phase-out of fossil fuels, it focused on just transition to achieve net zero by 2050. There is also a call for the development of renewables, nuclear, abatement and removal technologies such as carbon capture and utilisation and storage, particularly in hard-to-abate sectors, and low-carbon hydrogen production.
To contribute to UK’s energy transition, Conrad Energy is already increasing the amount of renewable energy generated to achieve net zero targets, investing in technology to store energy produced by renewables, building a growing green hydrogen pipeline, and strengthening its renewable portfolio with its first acquisition of an onshore wind farm.
