Almost 200 countries today agreed to transition away from fossil fuels at the UN Cop 28 climate summit in Dubai, in what Cop 28 president Sultan al-Jaber described as an "historic achievement".
The 198 parties to the UNFCCC — the UN's climate body — adopted the global stocktake draft text released a few hours ago.
The global stocktake measures progress towards the Paris Agreement and its goal to limit global warming to "well below" 2°C above pre-industrial levels and preferably to 1.5°C. This Cop marks the closure of the first global stocktake, which will set the path for countries' actions to address climate change over the next five years.
The text "calls on parties to contribute to… global efforts" to tackle climate change, including "transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems in a just, orderly and equitable manner, accelerating action in this critical decade", to reach net zero by 2050.
It is "a robust action plan to keep 1.5°C in reach. It is a plan that is led by the science. It is a balanced plan that tackles emissions, bridges the gap on adaptation, reimagines global finance and delivers on loss and damage", al-Jaber told delegates.
The now-adopted agreement calls on countries to treble renewable energy capacity and double energy efficiency rates, both by 2030, something that 130 countries have now agreed to at Cop 28. It also places an emphasis on climate finance, highlighting that it needs to "increase manyfold" and outlining the trillions of dollars needed.
But "an agreement is only as good as its implementation", al-Jaber warned parties. He told them that they must "turn this agreement into tangible actions".
"Progress is not fast enough" but "undeniably it is gathering pace", UNFCCC executive secretary Simon Stiell told delegates.
