{"id":48851,"date":"2023-07-06T17:13:41","date_gmt":"2023-07-06T16:13:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/?p=48851"},"modified":"2023-07-06T17:16:39","modified_gmt":"2023-07-06T16:16:39","slug":"cop28-fossil-fuel-phase-down-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2023\/07\/06\/cop28-fossil-fuel-phase-down-out\/","title":{"rendered":"UAE’s al Jaber says Cop28 will fast-track phase down of fossil fuels"},"content":{"rendered":"

The United Arab Emirates\u2019 Cop28 will accelerate an energy transition that \u201cphases down the use of fossil fuels\u201d, its president-designate Sultan al Jaber said, raising expectations for the climate summit in Dubai.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The remarks represent a slight shift in al Jaber\u2019s position since his previous agenda-setting speech when he expressed support for the \u201cphase out of fossil fuel emissions\u201d, carving out<\/a> a big role for carbon capture and storage technologies.<\/p>\n

The renewed rhetoric also inches him closer to the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who last month called<\/a> on countries to phase out fossil fuels and \u201cto leave oil, gas and coal in the ground where they belong\u201d.<\/p>\n

But al Jaber has still stopped short of calling for a \u201cphase out\u201d or indicating the pace at which the phase down needs to happen. His remarks are closely watched as the Cop host plays an important part in shaping the direction of negotiations, putting together the draft texts that countries are asked to accept.<\/p>\n

Battle of words<\/h3>\n

The November summit in Dubai could see a repeat of the Cop26 word battle<\/a> between governments pushing for a “phase out” or a “phase down” of coal-fired power.<\/p>\n

In the end, the latter version of the commitment, backed by India and China, won out to the disappointment of Pacific island nations and some developed countries.<\/p>\n

Governments set to fail<\/strong> to plot shipping industry course for 1.5C<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In separate remarks to the OPEC oil producing nations meeting in Vienna on Thursday, the Cop28 president-designate has urged the oil and gas industry to \u201cstep up its game\u201d and invest more money in clean energy.<\/p>\n

“The energy system of the future cannot and will not build itself”, he said.<\/p>\n