The world must “urgently” ditch fossil fuels as part of efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and curb global warming, an international coalition comprising European countries and other countries vulnerable to climate change confirmed on Friday.

In a statement released at the end of climate talks in Brussels, the High Ambition Alliance said the 28th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP28) scheduled for later this year “must pave the way with urgency”. and transition to renewable energy sources, a more climate-resilient world and climate justice for all.

He called for greenhouse gas emissions to peak by 2025 and be cut by 43 percent by 2030 from 2019 levels, in line with recent recommendations by UN climate experts.

“Systematic changes are needed in all sectors, starting with rapid reductions in fossil fuel production and use this decade, followed by an urgent phase-out of fossil fuels,” the coalition added. The statement comes in the wake of a ministerial summit held in Belgium, where the President of “COP 28” Sultan Al-Jaber set priorities for the conference to be held in Dubai.

The world is still far from on track to meet its climate goals, which has prompted some countries to commit themselves to “Cob 28,” a plan to phase out fossil fuels that increase the planet’s temperature.

Concrete goals

Sultan Al Jaber, UAE industry minister and chairman of ADNOC oil company, expects fossil fuels to continue to play a role, albeit limited, by using controversial carbon capture technologies to “mitigate,” or neutralize. emissions.

Al-Jaber said Thursday that reducing the use of fossil fuels was “inevitable” and “essential,” but he did not set a timeline for that. And he continued in an interview with Agence France-Presse: “I don’t have a magic wand” to determine when this will happen.

The Alliance for High Ambition has raised concerns about reliance on carbon capture and storage technologies, which trap emissions from power plants and store them permanently underground, which are not yet widely used.

He said in his statement: “Pollution reduction technologies should not be used to give the green light to the continued expansion of fossil fuels, but should be seen in the context of measures to phase out the use of fossil fuels.” These technologies have the potential to play a “small role” in decarbonizing the sector.

Among the concrete targets recommended by Sultan Al-Jaber are COP28 priorities, tripling the world’s renewable energy capacity and doubling energy efficiency improvements to be achieved by 2030.

This is in line with the International Energy Agency’s recommendations to meet the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels.