Kazakhstan's deputy minister of natural resources Mansur Oshurbayev today called for a "tangible, not rhetorical" transition away from fossil fuels at a panel during the UN Cop 30 climate summit in northern Brazil.
Nigerian and Fijian representatives at the same panel noted the need for "real alternatives" for industry and workers, and for the finance to support a transition, respectively.
The topic of moving away from fossil fuels has drawn attention at Cop 30, with host country Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva calling for a roadmap to overcome dependence on them. But talks on the topic are moving slowly. Cop 30 chief strategy and alignment officer Tulio Andrade said earlier this week that they are not on the formal negotiation table.
Almost 200 countries agreed to transition away from fossil fuels at Cop 28 in 2023.
Some developing nations such as Colombia are eager for a phase-out plan at Cop 30, but others, especially in the Middle East and Africa, are concerned that it might hinder their development, according to delegates. A growing number of countries are discussing an option similar to the so-called Baku to Belem roadmap, which sets out paths to scale climate finance for developing countries to $1.3 trillion/yr by 2035. A fossil fuel phase-out roadmap could look similar, a French delegation source said.
Any reduction in fossil fuel production can only come "with real alternatives for firms, workers and regions", Oshurbayev said during the panel. "We must preserve and redeploy this human capital into activities that support the climate transition and do not directly compete with the coal and oil and [natural] gas operations", he added.
The phase out of fossil fuels is a "difficult conversation", the director general of Nigeria's national council on climate change Omotenioye Majekodunmi said. Around 80pc of Nigeria's economy relies on fossil fuels and the country uses about 40GW of fossil-powered generators to generate electricity, he said.
But there have been some strides at the national level, such as removing taxes on photovoltaic systems, solar panels and batteries, which will allow "small mom and pop shops and homes to adopt renewable energy options other than burning gasoline and diesel", he said. The country also removed long-standing fuel subsidies in 2023.
The Netherlands' vice-minister of climate and energy Michel Heijdra called on countries to reduce fossil fuels subsidies earlier in the week during a Cop 30 high-level event. And fossil fuel subsidies throughout the world are mostly "underpriced, underused or unjust", the deputy chief of IMF's climate policy division Diego Mesa said.
Nigeria is also considering creating an additional tax on oil products, Majekodunmi said, which would encourage the country to "reimagine alternative energy sources to drive its economy". The country will rely on natural gas as a "transition fuel" as it winds down over-dependence on fossil fuels, Majekodunmi said.
Electrification can also help countries reduce fossil fuel usage, Oshurbayev said.
Bold and joint action will be needed to mitigate the consequences of irreversible climate change, including to phase out fossil fuels, the permanent secretary of Fiji's environment and climate change ministry Sivendra Michael said. And any such action will require financing, he told Argus on the sidelines.
Some countries, such as India and Saudi Arabia, are pressing for the climate finance obligations of developed countries to developing countries to be addressed at this summit. This is one of four contentious topics that did not make it onto the official agenda, but that countries are discussing in consultations overseen by the Cop presidency.
"The ball is [in the] rich countries' court", Michael said.
The technical phase of Cop 30 is now wrapping up, as countries' ministers are starting to arrive. The talks will shift into a political phase from 17 November.
