At the U.N. climate summit, which was held in Dubai, governments went on to unveil certain new initiatives that have been aimed at strengthening clean energy as well as, at the same time, reducing dependence in terms of fossil fuels. This push comes as countries go on to face the challenge of slashing the continuous rise in emissions that go on to contribute to global warming.
It is well to be noted that at the U.N.’s COP28 climate summit, 118 governments went on to make a significant commitment to triple the world’s renewable energy capabilities by 2030. This initiative aims to reduce the reliance on fossil fuels in worldwide energy production. It garnered major support from numerous nations.
Many COP28 announcements were made with the aim of decarbonizing the energy sector, which is indeed responsible when it comes to almost three-quarters of global greenhouse gas emissions. These announcements also had plans to broaden nuclear power, decrease methane emissions, and bar private financing for coal power.
The statement which was made by Sultan al-Jaber, the President of the United Arab Emirates’ COP28 summit, underscores the potential of this initiative so as to effectively shift the world’s dependence away from uncontrolled coal usage.
The EU, US, and UAE are leading the way in a pledge so as to triple renewable energy. The objective of this commitment aims to curb CO2-emitting fossil fuels from the worldwide energy system by 2050.
The backers of this endeavour included Brazil, Nigeria, Australia, Japan, Canada, Chile, and Barbados.
While China and India have gone in to indicate their support when it comes to tripling renewable energy by 2030, none of the countries completely endorsed the overall pledge, which combines the rise in clean power with a corresponding dip in the use of fossil fuels.
The EU as well as the UAE, among other backers, happen to be advocating for the inclusion of the renewable energy pledge when it comes to the final decision of the U.N. climate summit, which aims to establish it as a universal aim. Getting consensus across almost 200 countries present would be a primary requirement for that.
It is well to be noted that the pledge, which was first reported by Reuters in November this year, also has in it a draft that calls for the phase-down of uninterrupted coal power and a complete stoppage to the financing of new coal-fired power plants. Moreover, there happens to be an objective to achieve a 100% rise in the global rate of energy efficiency by the year 2030.
Climate-vulnerable nations are stressing the requirement for a total agreement among nations at COP28 to tag along the set goals, which specifically focus on the gradual elimination of worldwide dependence on fossil fuels.
As per Tina Stege, who happens to be the Climate Envoy for the Marshall Islands stated that the pledge in no way can be used to greenwash countries that are at the same time increasing their fossil fuel production.
In the months that have gone by, there have been delays in projects and cancellations for developers like Orsted and BP, thereby resulting in prominent financial losses because of rising costs, labor issues, and supply chain problems. Although there has been a global surge in the roll-out of renewables such as solar and wind in the past few years, these issues have had a negative impact on the sector.
To achieve the objective when it comes to reaching 10,000 gigawatts of worldwide installed renewable energy by 2030, it will be essential for governments as well as financial institutions to raise investments and also find solutions to the elevated capital cost that has caused trouble for renewable energy projects across developing nations.
A consultant at Somalia’s climate ministry, Najib Ahmed, went on to point out that there happens to be a mismatch between the potential to attract investment and its limitations.
As per the International Renewable Energy Agency, Africa has gone on to receive 2% of global investments in renewable energy in the last 20 years.
Nuclear push
It is well to be noted that a declaration was signed by more than 20 nations with the objective of triple nuclear power capacity by 2050. John Kerry, the U.S. climate envoy, stressed that building new reactors is quite a major requirement for the world to hit net zero emissions.
At the launch ceremony at COP28, Kerry clarified that they don’t in any way assert that this will unquestionably take place over every other energy source.
But attaining net-zero emissions by 2050 is not possible sans incorporating nuclear energy, just as it isn’t possible without making use of carbon capture, usage, and storage technologies.
The global nuclear capacity at present happens to be 370 gigawatts, and overall, 31 countries happen to be operating reactors. So as to triple that capacity by 2050, there would be requirement for a substantial rise in new approvals as well as financial resources.
Numerous other pledges were indicative towards coal, which happens to be widely taken as the fossil fuel having the highest CO2 emissions.
France has gone on to announce its aim to lead a consortium of nations in terms of urging the OECD to evaluate the climate as well as financial risks that happen to be associated with investments across new coal assets. The idea is to not push private financiers into giving support to such projects.
Kosovo as well as the Dominican Republic, which are both coal users, have also gone on to agree to partner when it comes to developing plans to over a period of time shun their reliance on coal-powered electricity.
Meanwhile, around 50 oil and gas companies, which include the likes of Exxon Mobil, have inked the Oil and Gas Decarbonization Charter, which was led by COP President Sultan al-Jaber and aims to lessen operational emissions by 2050.
Environmental groups also went on to criticize the charter, arguing that its commitments were a mere distraction from the COP28 process and did not in a way address effectively the challenging emissions because of the burning of fossil fuels.
As per Melanie Robinson, who happens to be the Global Climate Program Director at the World Resources Institute, the pledge in no way addresses the major impact of the fuel they sell, which happens to be responsible for almost 95% of the oil and gas industry’s role when it comes to the climate crisis.
Methane emissions
The Biden administration went on to reveal the final rules that aim towards the reduction of methane emissions from the U.S. oil and gas industry. These rules happen to be a crucial part of a worldwide effort in order to address climate change by slashing harmful emissions.
Numerous governments, philanthropic organizations, as well as private sector have gone on to announce that they have mobilized $1 billion in grants collectively so as to support countries’ efforts when it comes to addressing the potent gas.
Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan, who are two significant contributors when it comes to methane emissions, have recently become integral parts of the Global Methane Pledge. This voluntary agreement has gone on to have support from more than 150 countries, all of which have committed to decreasing their methane emissions by 30% before the end of this decade.
The World Bank went on to unveil an 18-month initiative named the blueprint for methane reduction, which will establish 15 national programs with the intent of reducing methane emissions by way of numerous activities like rice production, livestock operations, as well as waste management.
