“Historic” COP28 agreement made with commitment to phase out fossil fuels

An “historic consensus” has been reached in Dubai for the United Nation's (UN) annual climate conference, promising to “transition away from all fossil fuels” by 2050.

The final agreement was reached today and includes a commitment to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius from pre-industrial levels, referring to lower temperatures from before the Industrial Revolution.

This 1.5-degree warming commitment was agreed upon by 195 states in 2015 when the 21^st Conference of Parties (COP) took place, and the Paris Agreement was made.

The Paris Agreement is a set of policies intending to slow down climate change.

The agreement also “calls on parties to transition away from fossil fuels to reach net zero,” COP28 said.

They added: “Today, COP28 concluded with a historic agreement by 198 Parties to deliver a new era of climate action.”

The annual COP commenced on November 30 in the United Arab Emirates and closed a day later than scheduled on December 13 after disagreements between participating nations.

Climate campaign group Greenpeace International said that the agreement has loopholes and shortcomings.

Kaisa Kosonen, Senior Political Advisor at Greenpeace International said: “This is not the historical deal that the world needed.

“But history will be made if all those nearly 130 counties, businesses and civil society voices, who came together to form an unprecedented force for change, now take this determination and make the fossil fuel phase out happen.”

Ghiwa Nakat, Executive Director for Greenpeace Middle East and North Africa called the agreement unprecedented but said more needed to be done to help “communities on the frontline of the climate catastrophe”.

Claire Coutinho, the UK Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, posted on X calling the COP28 Agreement “historic”.

She said: “The UK has nearly halved emissions since 1990 - more than any other major economy.”

Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer described COP28 as “disappointing” and called for the UK government to act further.

She added that COP28 has not done “nearly enough” to tackle climate change, but it is not too late to change things.

She said: “The best time to act was decades ago. The next best time is right now.”