Countries are progressing slowly on the decision text of the Cop 28 UN climate summit global stocktake — a key outcome for the talks, parties and observers said today.
The UNFCCC — the UN climate body — released on 1 December the "first building blocks" for the text produced by the co-chairs of the global stocktake discussions, "under their own authority" as a starting point for the final negotiations taking place Dubai.
The global stocktake is a five-yearly undertaking to measure progress towards the Paris accord, and is intended to inform the next round of emissions reductions plans, due in 2025. It could provide all parties with a chance to reflect on past achievements and find common ground on key issues such as finance and mitigation — cutting emissions.
Parties are currently discussing propositions on the impact of response measures — the effects arising from the implementation of mitigation measures on countries — ahead of the release of a more formal draft release today or tomorrow.
But progress is slow according to some parties and observers and numerous gaps remains, including on the key issues of mitigation, the future of fossil fuels and finance and finance flows, which are likely going to remain a major sticking points well into next week.
The mitigation section in the work document released on Friday had bullet points mentioning the phase-down or phase out of fossil fuels, as well as the role of transitional fuels and the importance of a just energy transition. It also mentioned "reducing methane emissions globally with timelines", and had the phase-out of fossil fuel subsidies attached to the "need for just transition and fairness". It also mentioned the transport sector, including net-zero emission vehicles and shipping and aviation. But these bullet points are issues where different views were expressed during the global stocktake process that spanned over two years and "would require further deliberations by parties," the document said.
Support to include language on fossil fuel in Cop 28 texts is gathering, but a lack of a united line — phase-out or phase-down, unabated or all — means that debates could risk getting stuck on details, while key producers, including Russia, Mideast Gulf and African countries, and consumer China are unlikely to support this.
A report, which included parties' views on what could be included in the global stocktake outcome, suggested countries should consider a phase-out of fossil fuels to help achieve the goals of the Paris agreement. Some submissions pointed to the need of a "just and equitable phase-out of all fossil fuels".
In its stocktake submission, Russia opposes an outcome that "discriminates or calls for phase-out" of fossil fuels. India, which opened the discussion to all fossil fuels, talks about "rational utilisation of fossil fuel resources" and points to developed countries "continuing their profligate investment in fossil fuels". The Arab Group says attention should be paid to equity in sharing of the remaining carbon budget.
