Cop: Fossil fuels key issue of global stocktake
The phasing out of fossil fuels will remain one of the "important" remaining issues when technical negotiations on the global stocktake move to ministerial level in the second week of the Cop 28 UN climate summit, EU negotiator Jacob Werksman said today.
He said that, from a negotiator perspective, the global stocktake is "the one big deliverable for this Cop" and that it needed to cover all aspects of the Paris Agreement.
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 should 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. It will also act as an anchor for finance and fossil fuel discussions during Cop 28.
Pressure has been mounting ahead of Cop 28 for parties to agree on language signalling the need to reduce output of and demand for all fossil fuels. The EU position is for a global phase-out of unabated fossil fuels and peaking of consumption this decade. EU climate commissioner Wopke Hoekstra gave no timeline for the phase-out of fossil fuels.
Werksman said that it was too early to be speculating publicly about where the text could land, but that the EU was going to try to build consensus around its position. "We feel we have a lot of support from a big diversity of parties," he said.
Finance will be a key issue to get some countries on board with backing language on fossil fuels, as some emerging and developing economies are heavily reliant on these resources. Colombia, for example, which has joined the fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty during Cop 28, has signalled that the country will need help from developed countries to finance its shift to clean energies. "We have to make sure that the resources are there to support countries in achieving both the emissions cuts as well as preparing for the impacts," Werksman said.
Capturing the statements of the leaders, who descended on Cop 28 in the first two days of the conference and making sure that their "most positive messages end up in that text" will be key for the outcomes of the global stocktake, Werksman said.
The summary of a high-level event on the stocktake released today pointed to the "urgent need to set the world on appropriate pathways to deliver the deep, rapid, and sustained reductions in global greenhouse gas emissions, as reflected by science". It also mentioned the need to reduce methane emissions and phase out unabated fossil fuels as well as inefficient fossil fuel subsidies "with developing countries taking the lead". It also had the focus on tripling global renewable energy capacity and doubling energy efficiency, all by 2030, and called for covering all greenhouse emissions and sectors.
Negotiators have spent the first day of the summit working on a draft of the global stocktake text, with one produced by the co-chairs of the global stocktake discussions, "under their own authority" as a starting point. Some parties and observers said that progress had been slow at first, but expect momentum to pick up now that global leaders have left the summit and the attention returns fully to negotiations.
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Australia opens up ACCU method development
Australia opens up ACCU method development
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Australia's Woodside plans CCS for Browse gas project
Australia's Woodside plans CCS for Browse gas project
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Japan’s FEPC calls for clearer nuclear policy stance
Japan’s FEPC calls for clearer nuclear policy stance
Osaka, 20 May (Argus) — Japan's Federation of Electric Power Companies (FEPC) has called for a clarification of the country's nuclear power policy, to ensure stable electricity supply and alignment with its net zero emissions goal. The call comes as the government reviews its basic energy policy , which was formulated in 2021 and calls for the reduction of dependence on nuclear reactors as much as possible. But Japan's guidelines for green transformation, which was agreed in February 2023, states that Japan should make the most of existing nuclear reactors. Tokyo should clearly state in its new energy policy that it is necessary to not only restart existing nuclear reactors, but also build new reactors, said FEPC chairman Kingo Hayashi on 17 May. Hayashi is also the president of utility Chubu Electric Power. Hayashi emphasised that to utilise reactors, it would be necessary to have discussions regarding financial support, policy measures that would help ensure cost recovery, address back-end issues in the nuclear fuel cycle and conduct a review of nuclear damage compensation law. Japan's current basic energy policy is targeted for the April 2030-March 2031 fiscal year, when the country's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is forecast to fall by 46pc from 2013-14 levels. To achieve this, the power mix in the policy set the nuclear ratio at 20-22pc, as well as 36-38pc from renewables, 41pc from thermal fuels and 1pc from hydrogen and ammonia. Japan typically reviews the country's basic energy policy every three years. Nuclear, as well as renewables, would be necessary to reduce Japan's GHG emissions, although thermal power units would still play a key role in addressing power shortages. But Japan has faced challenges in restarting the country's reactors following safety concerns after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, with only 12 reactors currently operational. Japan's nuclear generation in 2023 totalled 77TWh, which accounted for just 9pc of total power output. Tokyo has made efforts to promote the use of reactors, after the current basic energy policy was introduced in 2021. The trade and industry ministry (Meti) has updated its nuclear policy, by allowing nuclear power operators to continue using reactors beyond their maximum lifespan of 60 years by excluding a safety scrutiny period in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. This could advance the discussion on Japan's nuclear stance, especially if the new basic energy policy includes more supportive regulations. The trade and industry ministry started discussions to review the energy policy on 15 May, aiming to revise it by the end of this fiscal year. It is still unclear what year it is targeting and what ratio will be set for each power source in the new policy. But the deliberation would form a key part of efforts to update the GHG emissions reduction goal, ahead of the submission of the country's new nationally determined contribution in 2025, with a timeframe for implementation until 2035. By Motoko Hasegawa Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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