End clap for COP28, and for fossil fuels?

On the morning of Wednesday December 13, all COP28 member countries agreed to move towards a "transition away from fossil fuels".

This is the first time that the abandonment of fuel oil, coal and gas has been formulated so clearly and with a common voice at the end of a Conference of the Parties. At the end of the previous COP in Glasgow in 2021, there was barely a whisper of "coal reduction". 

On the morning of December 13 - one day after the official end of this summit meeting in Dubai - the 200 or so countries present at a plenary meeting that began the previous evening agreed on the Global Stocktake. This text, which is particularly eagerly awaited at COP28, serves to take stock of the Paris Agreement reached almost ten years earlier, with the aim of raising the ambitions of nations in terms of energy transition. 

The Global Stocktake thus mentions a "transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems", a formula that has achieved consensus among all the member countries present today. Even if no date is mentioned, this is an unprecedented symbolism that accentuates the global idea of the end of fossil resources, gradually replaced by renewables.

"The era of fossil fuels must come to an end, and it must come to an end with justice and equity" [Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary-General].