The EU has presented a proposal calling for a broader energy roadmap to be launched at the UN Cop 30 climate summit, which would include transitioning away from fossil fuels, as well as renewables and energy efficiency.
EU climate commissioner Wopke Hoekstra said that the EU "has put its own proposal on the table, which is broader in scope, adjusted to the [UAE outcome] and tailored to many conversations" that the bloc has had with other parties.
European countries support the roadmap, and the EU's so-called 'Mutirao' proposal is an invitation for more countries "to step on board", Denmark's minister for climate, energy and utilities Lars Aagaard said. Denmark currently holds the presidency of the EU council.
The EU's proposal would see a roadmap launched in Brazil and the text "encourages all parties to accelerate the implementation of the global efforts" referred to in paragraph 28 — energy — and 33 — nature and deforestation — of the Dubai outcome, and in line with the 1.5°C temperature limit of the Paris Agreement.
Almost 200 countries agreed at Cop 28 in Dubai to a call to transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems, "in a just, orderly and equitable manner… so as to achieve net zero by 2050 in keeping with the science."
The outcome, also referred to as the first global stocktake, called for renewable energy capacity to treble and energy efficiency to double, both by 2030. It also called for "accelerating efforts towards the phase-down of unabated coal power".
The EU's proposal requests the current and incoming presidency to "continuously" develop the roadmap, as well as provide an annual synthesis report.
The proposal follows the call made by 80 countries — developing and developed nations — to back a roadmap to transition away from fossil fuels at Cop 30 yesterday.
Hoekstra said the EU has had conversations with the alliance of small island states (Aosis), Ailac — a grouping of countries from Latin America and the Caribbean — India, China and other developing countries. The EU and China on 19 November both suggested exploring new language around a roadmap to transition away from fossil fuels.
Xia Yingxian, deputy head of China's delegation, said that the narrative at Cop 30 on the shift away from fossil fuels could be framed in another way, focusing on renewables, "to try and change the tone a little bit from negative to positive," he said. "I believe this would be more than welcome", he added.
The transition away from fossil fuels has become one of the main topics at the summit but the call is facing resistance, mainly from some economies heavily reliant on hydrocarbon production.
Hoekstra said that the roadmap will form part of the success of Cop 30, adding that the roadmap "is one of the ways we are articulating ambition on mitigation".
