Nations strike unprecedented agreement to transition away from fossil fuels at COP28

In an unprecedented move, nearly 200 countries agreed to “transitioning away” from fossil fuels in energy systems in an agreement reached at the global climate summit.

The language in the COP28 climate summit agreement appears to be stronger than past years’ calls to “phase down” or reduce the use of coal. 

The use of the “transitioning away” language comes after a contentious debate about whether or not the agreement should “phase out” fossil fuels or simply reduce their use. 

“The message coming out of this COP is: We are moving away from fossil fuels. We’re not turning back,” U.S. climate envoy John Kerry said during a press conference.

However, he acknowledged that he had hoped for even stronger language. 

“We supported the call for clearer language, about the need to phase out fossil fuels, but look, given the makeup of this 195-nation entity, it’s pretty clear that was more than a steep climb.”

Decisions at the global climate summit need to be adopted unanimously by all countries.

Beyond calling for the transition away from all fossil fuels, the text also calls for “accelerating” efforts toward the “phase-down” of coal whose emissions are not mitigated by carbon capture technology.

Nations additionally called for tripling global renewable energy capacity by 2030 and also doubling the global average annual rate of energy efficiency improvements.