Cop: Cop 28 Fossil fuel deal strong even if imperfect
Countries today hailed the progress made at the UN Cop 28 climate summit, in an agreement to transition away from fossil fuels, but pointed to potential loopholes and more focus needed on financial support for developing countries.
Almost 200 countries agreed earlier today on "transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems".
US climate envoy John Kerry said that "this is a moment when multilateralism has come together". Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) must agree unanimously on any final outcome. "This document sends very strong messages to the world," Kerry added, calling the language on fossil fuels "clear".
"This text is... not perfect, but it lays the foundation…", Bangladeshi climate envoy Saber Hossain Chowdhury said today. "Of course we would have liked more", he added.
It is the first time that the idea of curbing all fossil fuels has appeared in a final outcome from a Cop. A reference to a "phase down" of coal — the most polluting fossil fuel — was included two years ago, at Cop 26.
"Whilst we didn't turn the page on the fossil fuel era in Dubai, this outcome is the beginning of the end", UNFCCC executive secretary Simon Stiell said today. A broad coalition of countries, including the EU, the Umbrella Group — a UN voting bloc including the UK and US — and small island developing states had called for a phase out of all fossil fuels.
Samoa lead negotiator Anne Rasmussen, speaking on behalf of the alliance of small island states, noted that the group was not in the room when the decision was adopted. She said the text contained "good elements" but added that "the course correction that was needed has not been secured".
The EU today welcomed the deal, including on the pledge to triple renewable energy capacity and double energy efficiency, both by 2030.
"This outcome is not perfect... it reflects the very lowest possible ambition that we could accept", chair of the least developed countries UN voting group Madeleine Diouf Sarr said.
The UK's climate minister, Graham Stuart, echoed her comments. "There are elements here that we do not like", but "we are unified around a common commitment to move away from fossil fuels", he said today.
Diouf Sarr and representatives of small island nations — which are extremely vulnerable to the effects of climate change — expressed concern over potential loopholes. The text "recognises that transitional fuels can play a role in facilitating the energy transition while ensuring energy security", which is interpreted by many as leaving a door open for natural gas or LNG.
"We want to raise the alarm that transitional fuels will become permanent, especially in developing countries", climate change ambassador for Antigua and Barbuda Diann Black-Layne said today. Germany's foreign minister Annalena Baerbock today raised the question of what the "energy systems" mentioned in the text could entail.
Oil and gas producing countries Qatar and Saudi Arabia pointed to what the former said was an "absence of equity". Both countries complained that the deal was focusing on the source of emissions — fossil fuels — instead of focusing on their reduction.
Developed countries should "enhance" support "for realising sustainable development" in developing nations, China's representative said. The text recognised that climate finance should "increase manyfold" and pointed to the trillions of dollars needed, though the process cannot mandate financial contributions.
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Hurricane Helene shuts in 29pc of US Gulf oil
Hurricane Helene shuts in 29pc of US Gulf oil
New York, 25 September (Argus) — Hurricane Helene, which is forecast to intensify as it heads for a late Thursday landfall in Florida, has shut in about 29pc of US Gulf of Mexico oil output. Around 511,000 b/d of US offshore oil output was off line as of 12:30pm ET, according to the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), while 313mn cf/d of natural gas production, or 17pc of the region's output, was also off line. Operators have so far evacuated workers from 17 offshore platforms. Helene was last about 110 miles north-northeast of Cozumel, Mexico, according to a 2pm ET advisory from the US National Hurricane Center, with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph. Helene is expected to be a major hurricane, with winds of at least 111mph, when it reaches the eastern Florida coast on Thursday evening. "A turn toward the north and north-northeast with an increase in forward speed is expected later today through Thursday, bringing the center of Helene across the eastern Gulf of Mexico and to the Florida Big Bend coast by Thursday evening," the center said. Shell restarting some production Although the hurricane will largely pass to the east of most offshore oil and gas production areas, companies have taken precautionary measures. Given a shift in the forecast track, Shell said late Tuesday that it had started to ramp up production at the Appomattox platform to normal levels, and was in the process of restoring output at the Stones facility, both off the coast of Louisiana. It paused some drilling operations. Chevron said earlier it was shutting in production at company-operated facilities in the Gulf of Mexico, and evacuating all workers. Equinor said it was shutting down the Titan oil platform. BP had earlier this week started to shut in production at its Na Kika and Thunder Horse platforms, southeast of New Orleans, and was curtailing output from its Argos and Atlantis facilities, as well as removing non-essential staff. US offshore production was disrupted earlier this month when Hurricane Francine made landfall, with up to 42pc of production was offline at one point. The offshore Gulf of Mexico accounts for around 15pc of total US crude output and 5pc of US natural gas production. By Stephen Cunningham Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
LNG glut coming and may catch many by surprise: Orsted
LNG glut coming and may catch many by surprise: Orsted
London, 25 September (Argus) — There will be an oversupply of LNG on the global market in the coming years, which may contribute further to "the decade of turmoil", Danish utility Orsted senior vice-president Rune Sonne Bundgaard-Jorgensen told Argus . "The [energy] crisis is absolutely not over. To me, an energy crisis is one of uncertainty and volatility," Bundgaard-Jorgensen said on the sidelines of the Energy Trading Week conference in London. "We are going to see an LNG glut which we all in this [conference] room see is coming but the rest of the world does not necessarily. That is going to catch a lot of people by surprise," he said, adding that "surprises are never good when it comes to energy". According to Bundgaard-Jorgensen, "we are going to see an ongoing decade of turmoil. Who knows where the war in the Middle East with the latest attacks on Hezbollah and Israel is going to take us," he said. Among other concerns, he mentioned "uncertainties in the Far East, around the South China Sea". "So, though the current energy crisis of decoupling from Russian pipe gas is over, the continued crisis of where we are going to get sustainable, long-term energy from is far from over," Bundgaard-Jorgensen said. Commenting on Orsted's long-term gas plans, Bundgaard-Jorgensen stressed that Orsted is "constantly evaluating" its gas portfolio. He refused to say whether Orsted is negotiating another long-term deal with Norwegian state-controlled Equinor after their previous contract expired in April. Orsted entered an agreement with Equinor at the end of 2022, after Russian state-controlled Gazprom halted deliveries to the firm from June 2022 following Orsted's refusal to pay for its supply in roubles . "We are quite happy that we are out of our long-term contract with Gazprom," Bundgaard-Jorgensen said. "As a company we believe in decarbonisation — but I also need to believe in a resilient portfolio. So, we are constantly looking to optimise. Gas is not a strategic core of Orsted but it is a very important tool of securing our portfolio," he said. Bundgaard-Jorgensen refused to comment on whether the firm is planning to appeal a decision made by the Danish Supply Authority in July that the tariff levied by Orsted on the Tyra-Nybro pipeline to Denmark from 2011 to October 2012 was too high. The authority reduced the tariff in the period by almost 30pc to 7.20 Danish kroner/m³ from DKr10/m³. By Alexandra Vladimirova Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Vertex Energy files for bankruptcy, seeks sale
Vertex Energy files for bankruptcy, seeks sale
Houston, 25 September (Argus) — Specialty refiner Vertex Energy has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in a US court following a failed foray into renewable fuels production at its 88,000 b/d Mobile, Alabama, refinery. Vertex has entered into a restructuring support agreement with its lenders and secured $80mn of new funding to finance its day-to-day business operations, the company said late Tuesday. The refiner is also considering a "more value-maximizing sale transaction" and expects to confirm its chapter 11 bankruptcy plan by the end of the year, according to the 24 September press release. Vertex announced in May this year that it would "pause" renewable diesel production at its Alabama refinery and return the unit to producing fossil fuel products. The company later said it would use a third quarter turnaround to return the Alabama plant's converted hydrocracking unit to processing fossil fuel feedstocks and be back online in the fourth quarter. Vertex also operates a re-refinery near New Orleans, Louisiana, that produces low-sulfur vacuum gas oil (VGO) and multiple used motor oil (UMO) processing plants and collection facilities along the Gulf coast. Refiners have faced mixed fortunes in recent years with their investments in renewable fuels after a glut of new supply flooded markets and depressed renewable credit prices. US independent refiner Delek announced in August that it is temporarily idling three biodiesel plants in Texas, Arkansas and Mississippi as it explores alternative uses for the sites. Chevron said earlier this year it was indefinitely closing two biodiesel plants in Wisconsin and Iowa due to market conditions. By Nathan Risser Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Biden touts climate legacy
Biden touts climate legacy
New York, 25 September (Argus) — US president Joe Biden made the case for his climate legacy on Tuesday, casting the Inflation Reduction Act as part of a "new economic playbook" and warning of environmental and economic repercussions if former president Donald Trump returns to the White House. The 2022 law, which included a raft of tax credits to subsidize clean energy technologies, was the "most significant climate law passed in the history of the world," Biden said in a speech at the Bloomberg Global Business Forum, an event on the sidelines of the UN general assembly and Climate Week NYC. The market for clean energy is "booming" because of the law, Biden said, pointing to investments made after its passage in battery technology, nuclear energy, hydrogen, and what the administration terms "climate-smart agriculture." Most of those benefits are flowing to Republican-led states, he noted. While analysts see some provisions in the law as less vulnerable than others, including tax credits for hydrogen and carbon capture popular among oil and gas companies, Republicans have said they want to repeal much of the law. Trump-era tax cuts are set to expire in 2025, teeing up a major legislative fight over tax policy next year regardless of which party controls the US Congress and the White House. Although Biden argued that his climate policies have already had substantial impacts, he also said that Trump could halt much of that progress. Manufacturing facilities and businesses that have started up because of the law's incentives would "shut down" if it was repealed, he said. The US shifting course on energy policy could also have spillover effects on other countries' climate ambitions, Biden said, pointing to his administration's support for language agreed to at last year's UN Cop 28 climate summit around transitioning away from fossil fuels. "If we didn't lead, who the hell leads? Who fills the vacuum without America leading?" he said. By Cole Martin Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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