Roadmaps to transition away from fossil fuel transition and end deforestation for the next round of UN talks will support moving from consensus to action in global climate efforts, Cop 30 president Andre Correa do Lago said.
The Cop 30 presidency's pledge to create two roadmaps towards phasing out fossil fuels and ending deforestation "will be very much instruments to stimulate implementation," Correa do Lago said on Tuesday at the CERAWeek by S&P Global conference in Houston.
The Cop 30 presidency last month opened a public call for countries to submit proposals for its two roadmaps by 31 March to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) secretariat. Technical documents for the roadmaps are planned to be ready by October.
Correa do Lago emphasized the importance of action and implementation over trying to achieve consensus, given the urgency presented by climate change.
While designing Cop 30 last year, "we tried to — taking into consideration, obviously, the limits of the Cop — to preserve the best of [the Paris Agreement] … but also open the door to the actors that are essential for the implementation," he said.
In particular, it is important to expand the dialogue beyond the public sector and towards private entities, which typically are not privy to the negotiations that occur during Cop, but will be key players in implementing the terms that are ultimately agreed upon, he said.
"I think that this expansion of the theme of climate is essential for us to continue this agenda. We cannot continue to work in a silo in which only a few people can talk about climate," Correa do Lago said.
That sentiment was echoed by Sasha Mackler, senior vice president and global head of strategic policy at ExxonMobil.
Meeting electricity demand, which is projected to surge due to growth in data center capacity and increasing electrification, while also achieving reductions in emissions will be a major challenge in the future, he said.
The oil and gas industry's role in transitioning away from fossil fuels "could be quite significant because we know that for the foreseeable future, oil and gas will be with us," Mackler said. "The world has an enormous appetite for energy, and that appetite will continue to grow over time."
In addition, the roadmaps are "super important to give us the means to explore" ways to solve the technological challenges arising from transitioning away from fossil fuels as well as scaling the deployment of clean technology, said Benoit Faraco, France's ambassador for climate.
"When you look at the global picture, there is a very strong appetite for this kind of conversation, including with a lot of emerging economies that are definitely wanting to move in this position," he said.
The US retreat from its leadership on climate policy will likely cast a shadow over the upcoming Cop 31 climate summit. President Donald Trump's withdrawal from the Paris Agreement formally took effect in January, and soon after he called for an exit from the UNFCCC.
This could pave the way for China to take a larger role in global climate conversations. The country has recently made "pretty substantial pledges" to lower emissions, according to Joseph Majkut, director of the energy security and climate change program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Still, "China's position as a leader is also kind of tenuous" since, despite being a leader in renewable energy and electric vehicles, it is "still a receiver of climate finance overall," Majkut said during a separate panel at CERAWeek.
