EU foreign ministers have updated their external policy position on the energy transition and are now calling for a global phase-out of unabated fossil fuels with a transitional role for natural gas.
The shift towards a climate neutral economy will require the "global phase-out of unabated fossil fuels", with a peak in their consumption in the "near term", EU foreign ministers said in their adopted conclusions. But they recognised "a transitional role for natural gas".
The EU will systematically call for a "global move towards energy systems free of unabated fossil fuels well ahead of 2050", foreign ministers said. Dependence on fossil fuels leaves countries "vulnerable to market volatility and geopolitical risk", they added.
The EU is also calling for a "resolute and just worldwide transformation towards climate neutrality, including a phasing out of unabated coal in energy production and — as a first step — an immediate end to all financing of new coal infrastructure in third countries". Ministers have also agreed that "EU energy diplomacy will promote the global phase-out of environmentally harmful fossil fuel subsidies".
The updated policy position comes after EU foreign ministers last month failed to reach the unanimous agreement necessary to adopt the call for a global phase-out of unabated fossil fuels. Environmentalist group CAN Europe said it still falls short. "We're missing a clear signal from the EU that it would end finance for all fossil fuels and not just coal," said Sven Harmeling, CAN Europe's international climate policy co-ordinator. The group would also have preferred clear mention of CO2 reduction targets for 2035 and 2040 rather than 2030 and 2050.
Meanwhile, the EU ministers have called on member states to "continue to constructively engage in the discussions on new funding arrangements, including a [dedicated] fund" for loss and damage, which refers to the destructive effects of climate change that communities cannot adapt to, such as rising sea levels. They are asking "all partners, from all regions, in a position to do so and beyond the traditional base of providers of development finance, to expand their support as well as to identify new sources of funding".
The foreign ministers' text will be complemented later in the year with an EU negotiating position for the 2023 Cop 28 UN climate change conference, which will take place in the UAE in December. Delegations reached an impasse on including language around phasing out fossil fuels in the final text of last year's Cop 27, though the issue was debated until the last minute.
