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Oil Change International reaction: COP28 agrees to ‘transition away from fossil fuels’

“People power put a full, fast, fair, and funded fossil fuel phaseout at the top of the UN agenda. While we didn’t get there, we secured the first UN climate agreement that calls on all countries to ‘transition away from fossil fuels,’ sending an unprecedented signal to the fossil fuel industry that its days are numbered. This progress has only been achieved by decades of struggle by frontline communities, Indigenous Peoples, and the most affected countries.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 13, 2023

Oil Change International reaction: COP28 agrees to ‘transition away from fossil fuels’
Contact:
Nicole Rodel, nicole@priceofoil.org

In response to the final agreement at the COP28 UN climate talks in Dubai, Romain Ioualalen, Global Policy Manager at Oil Change International, said: 

“People power put a full, fast, fair, and funded fossil fuel phaseout at the top of the UN agenda. While we didn’t get there, we secured the first UN climate agreement that calls on all countries to ‘transition away from fossil fuels,’ sending an unprecedented signal to the fossil fuel industry that its days are numbered. This progress has only been achieved by decades of struggle by frontline communities, Indigenous Peoples, and the most affected countries. 

“This agreement does not deliver the full, fast, fair, funded phaseout of fossil fuels that global communities urgently demand for a just energy transition. Rich countries must pay their fair share to enable the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy in the Global South. 

“Disgracefully, the agreement is littered with loopholes, leaving escape hatches for the fossil fuel industry that could undermine the transition away from fossil fuels. This risks giving big polluters a free pass to continue extraction at a time when swift and coordinated action is desperately needed. This can only lead to climate and economic chaos. 

“But this doesn’t take away from the fact that people power across the world has forced leaders to finally accept that we must move away from fossil fuels if we are to have a livable future. We will keep holding firm — at COP, in the streets, and wherever fossil fuels and the climate crisis threaten communities and the planet — until we have a full, fast, fair, funded, phaseout of all fossil fuels.“

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NOTES: 

  • The outcome is not full, because the text is riddled with dangerous distractions and references to technofixes like ‘carbon capture and storage’ and ‘transition fuels’ that serve as lifelines for the fossil fuel industry. 
  • The outcome is not fast, because it does not commit to a fossil fuel phaseout on a timeline consistent with holding global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. 
  • The outcome is not fair, because it does not specify that the rich countries currently driving fossil fuel expansion must phase out oil, gas, and coal first and fastest, nor does it expressly call on them to stop this deadly expansion that’s threatening communities and wrecking the planet. 
  • The outcome is not funded, because it does not commit rich countries, who have the greatest historical responsibility for the climate crisis, to providing the public funding that developing countries need to ensure an equitable transition.