Once again, everything came to a grinding halt shortly before the end of the conference in Dubai. We’ve seen it before: Saudi Arabia and the oil lobby regularly slow down the COP machine. On the one hand, they block ambitious formulations and targets. On the other hand, they have enforced the consensus principle, which slows […]
Today is officially the last day of COP28, but an extension is increasingly likely. A negotiating text published yesterday is a bitter disappointment for the most ambitious and vulnerable countries. Comments range from “unacceptable” to “stunned.” Bernhard Pötter has studied the text and is looking ahead.Urmi Goswami has taken a thorough look at the G77/China […]
Over half of all countries have tripled their renewable energy capacity in the last ten years. Worldwide, this figure tripled between 2014 and 2022. This is according to a new report by Zero Carbon Analytics. The report predicts 2023 will be another record year by a wide margin, with over 500 gigawatts added.The report shows […]
To limit global warming to 1.5 degrees, many Western countries would have to stop using coal, oil and gas soon after 2030. This is according to an NGO report recently presented at COP28. The authors calculated phase-out dates for various countries based on their wealth and dependence on fossil fuels. The wealthier a country and […]
COP28 is slowly approaching the finishing line. Yesterday, COP President Al Jaber urged countries to work “harder,” be more flexible and make compromises. He intends to conclude the conference at 11 a.m. on Tuesday. But on the COP’s corridors, the first bets have already been made on how long COP will go into overtime this […]
The COP28 pledges made so far to triple renewables, double energy efficiency and reduce methane emissions are not reducing emissions fast enough. According to an IEA analysis, fully meeting the COP pledges would only close the emissions gap to the 1.5-degree pathway by just over 30 percent by 2030. The IEA analysis confirms a report […]
Liu Zhenmin has big shoes to fill. The 68-year-old will most likely become China’s new climate envoy and thus succeed climate czar Xie Zhenhua, who made a significant contribution to the Paris Climate Agreement with John Kerry. As a grey eminence, Xie has had a great deal of influence on Chinese climate policy.However, career diplomat […]
A coalition led by the Netherlands, consisting of a dozen states, committed on Saturday to release an inventory of their own subsidies for fossil fuels within a year to develop a clear strategy for their abolition.Alongside the Netherlands, France, Austria, Canada, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Spain, Costa Rica, Luxembourg and Antigua and Barbuda are part […]
According to Climate State Secretary Jennifer Morgan in today’s interview with Bernhard Pötter, the “showdown between the fossil fuel industry and the planet” is intensifying at COP28. While the question of fossil fuel phase-out was negotiated behind closed doors last year, this time, it takes center stage at the climate conference. Morgan asserts that blockers […]
Morocco joined an international campaign for an exit from unabated coal-fired power generation (Powering Past Coal Alliance (PPCA)) on Friday, committing to cover more than half of its electricity needs with renewable energy over the next seven years.The alliance now includes 60 national governments working together for a clean exit from coal-fired power generation. At […]