EU foreign ministers today failed to reach the unanimous agreement required to adopt a call for a global phase-out of unabated fossil fuels, as part of the bloc's negotiating position at the UN Cop 28 climate conference later this year.
A text circulating for discussion among ministers would have committed the EU to systematically promoting "a global move towards energy systems free of unabated fossil fuels well ahead of 2050".
Speaking after the meeting of foreign ministers, EU foreign affairs high representative Josep Borrell said Russia's invasion of Ukraine demonstrates the "need for increased global action among the biggest emitters".
But lack of unanimous agreement prevented the foreign ministers from formally adopting the text that would settle EU negotiation points for Cop 28, which will take place in the UAE in December.
The text would have formed conclusions to foreign ministers' debate. It states that fossil fuel dependence leaves countries vulnerable to both market volatility and geopolitical risk.
"While recognising a transitional role for natural gas, the shift towards a climate neutral economy will require the global phase-out of unabated fossil fuels," the text noted. But the global phase-out of unabated coal in energy production remains the "first crucial" step. This echoes comments by European Commission executive vice-president Frans Timmermans during last year's Cop 27 meeting, who had said during the conference's negotiation process that "we are all in support of any call to support a phase down of fossil fuels, but we have to make sure that this call does not diminish the early agreement we had on phasing down coal".
The text also pointed to collective EU member state energy savings and accelerated renewables deployment as not requiring one-to-one replacement of former Russian natural gas import volumes. And EU fossil fuel diversification efforts away from Russia should neither undermine "long-term climate neutrality goals globally", nor "create fossil fuel lock-ins and stranded assets".
While not legally binding or having immediate policy effect, Brussels-based non-governmental organisation (NGO) Climate Action Network (Can) Europe still urged ministers to call for "immediately" stopping finance for new oil and gas exploration and fossil fuel infrastructure. "And we want the EU to also put forward 2035 targets, not only 2040, but after Cop 28," said Sven Harmeling, international climate policy coordinator for Can Europe.
The European Parliament will formally vote next month on agreed increases in emissions cut targets for sectors covered by the EU emissions trading system to 62pc by 2030 compared with 2005 levels, from 43pc currently. The change is designed to bring the scheme's target in line with the bloc's overall goal to cut its net greenhouse gas emissions by "at least" 55pc by 2030, compared with 1990 levels.
