Phasing Out Fossil Fuels Hasn’t Worked. Europe Has a New Idea for COP28
Expecting resistance to emissions cuts in Dubai, some climate hawks have started focusing on a global goal for renewables.
Climate protestors demonstrate against Swiss National Bank investments in oil pipelines on April 28, 2023.
Photographer: Arnd Wiegmann/BloombergNear the end of the United Nations climate summit in Sharm El-Sheikh last year, European Union climate chief Frans Timmermans offered a grand bargain to break the deadlock in the two-week negotiations.
The 27-member bloc would consent to the creation of a finance facility to pay for loss and damage caused by climate change, fulfilling a demand made by developing countries. But the EU’s support would come only if all countries agreed on a stronger commitment to eliminate the use of fossil fuels. The loss-and-damage fund promise made it into the final deal at COP27; the stronger agreement to phase out fossil fuels did not.