The Guardian

Some say the deal is historic, others that it is weak. We look closely at the text for the truth of the matter

The decision text from Cop28 has been greeted as “historic”, for being the first ever call by nations for a “transition away” from fossil fuels, and as “weak and ineffectual” and containing a “litany of loopholes” for the fossil fuel industry. An examination of the text helps to explain this contradiction.

Limiting global warming to 1.5C [above pre-industrial levels] with no or limited overshoot requires deep, rapid and sustained reductions in global greenhouse gas emissions of 43% by 2030 and 60% by 2035 relative to the 2019 level and reaching net zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050. [Countries] further recognise the need for deep, rapid and sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in line with 1.5C pathways.

Tripling renewable energy capacity globally and doubling the global average annual rate of energy efficiency improvements by 2030.

Accelerating efforts towards the phase-down of unabated coal power.

Transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems, in a just, orderly and equitable manner, accelerating action in this critical decade, so as to achieve net zero by 2050 in keeping with the science.

Accelerating zero- and low-emission technologies, including, inter alia, renewables, nuclear, abatement and removal technologies such as carbon capture and utilisation and storage (CCUS), particularly in hard-to-abate sectors, and low-carbon hydrogen production.

Phasing out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies that do not address energy poverty or just transitions, as soon as possible.

Recognises that transitional fuels can play a role in facilitating the energy transition while ensuring energy security.

Results-based payments for policy approaches and positive incentives for activities relating to reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, and the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries.

He was personally vilified, but Sultan Al Jaber has managed what no other Cop presidency has ever done

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As temperatures broke records around the world this summer, António Guterres, the UN secretary general, warned in September: “Humanity has opened the gates of hell.”

On Wednesday, he hailed delegates at the Cop28 climate summit in Dubai, as two weeks of fraught talks ended. “For the first time, the outcome recognises the need to transition away from fossil fuels,” he said. “The era of fossil fuels must end, and it must end with justice and equity.”

Samoa's lead negotiator challenged the Cop28 president on the adopted climate pact, saying aspects of it were 'backward rather than forward' and a 'litany of loopholes'. nne Rasmussen, on behalf of small island nations, complained they weren't even in the room when al-Jaber said the deal was done. She said 'the course correction that is needed has not been secured', with the deal representing business-as-usual instead of exponential emissions-cutting efforts. When Rasmussen finished, she received a standing ovation from delegates

• Cop28 live: landmark deal to ‘transition away’ from fossil fuels agreed

The Cop28 climate summit has approved a deal that its supporters said would, for the first time, push nations away from fossil fuels to avert the worst effects of climate change. The final text avoided the words 'phase out' and 'phase down', which had been the source of much debate among countries, instead referring to a need to 'transition away' from fossil fuels. Sultan Al Jaber of the United Arab Emirates, the president of the summit, said: 'It is a balanced plan that addresses emissions … it is built on common ground. It is strengthened by full inclusivity. It is a historic package to accelerate climate action. It is the UAE consensus'

Summit president hails ‘historic package to accelerate climate action’, but critics decry ‘litany of loopholes’ in final text

• Cop28 live – latest updates

Nearly 200 countries at the Cop28 climate summit have agreed to a deal that, for the first time, calls on all nations to transition away from fossil fuels to avert the worst effects of climate change.

After two weeks of at-times fractious negotiations in the United Arab Emirates, the agreement was quickly gavelled through by the Cop28 president, Sultan Al Jaber, on Wednesday morning, receiving an ovation from delegates and a hug from UN climate chief, Simon Stiell.

‘Forever chemicals’ at Dutch resorts comparable to high concentrations detected along Belgian coast, study finds

The Dutch government has warned people to stop children and pets swallowing foam at the seaside, after a study showed “forever chemicals” were concentrated in the spume.

After research into foam at the Belgian seaside showing a concentration of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) – used widely for their waterproofing qualities but difficult to destroy – the Dutch public health institute RIVM measured the coast in Zeeland, north and south Holland in April and August.

Supporters say carbon credits can fund solutions, but others say they allow companies to avoid reducing emissions

Government officials, conservation organisations and industry groups have sought to revive confidence in the unregulated voluntary carbon market at Cop28 amid concerns it does little to mitigate the climate crisis or the destruction of nature.

Supporters of carbon markets say that through buying high-quality credits, countries and companies can transfer some of the billions of dollars required to fund nature-based solutions, support Indigenous communities, phase out coal power, and pay for new renewables in developing countries. Initiatives are under way to certify successful carbon projects and curb greenwashing claims from companies that buy credits, although there is disagreement about the appropriate role of offsets in a company’s sustainability efforts.

The organisers of the Dubai summit have been working on a new version of the global stocktake after the first draft met with strong criticism

Ed King, a veteran watcher of climate diplomacy, has listed the following key takeaways on the new text:

In terms of signalling the end of the fossil fuel era it’s an improvement on the last GST text but the bar was so low it could hardly be worse.

There are clear signals that countries agree fossil fuels need to be replaced by clean energy with 2050 as the target year for global net zero.

References to transition fuels being essential could have been written by a major gas producer. The science is clear: gas is a methane heavy fossil fuel, not a transition fuel.

There is support for tripling clean energy by 2030 and doubling energy efficiency as well as recognition that the costs of renewables are falling fast

There is repetition of Cop26 language on coal and emphasis that the new set of national climate pledges should be delivered from late 2024

There is very little on finance and – frankly – worrying language on the role of carbon offsets: many poor countries will see this as a text that throws them under the bus

Critically, given 2024 will be a very hard year, a “Road map to mission 1.5C” will be launched to enhance international cooperation on the way to Cop30 in Brazil. The UN is banking on Lula to lead.

Latest draft does not include a commitment to phase out or phase down fossil fuels, as many countries, civil society groups and scientists have urged

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A new draft climate agreement released at the Cop28 climate summit in the United Arab Emirates has for the first time explicitly called on nations to transition away from fossil fuels to avert the worst impacts of the climate crisis.

But the latest proposed text, released by the Cop president, Sultan Al Jaber, early on Wednesday, did not include an explicit commitment to phase out or phase down fossil fuels, as many countries, civil society groups and scientists have urged.

Development plans to pave over allotments in Isleworth rejected on grounds it would harm heritage assets

Local campaigners fighting to preserve a 1.2-hectare space in west London that is under threat from one of Britain’s oldest aristocratic families have landed a victory in a long-running saga to turn the green space into flats.

Development plans to pave over much of the Park Road allotments in Isleworth were rejected by the Planning Inspectorate on Tuesday, on the grounds that it would harm protected local open space and heritage assets – and would be detrimental to allotment provision in an area where demand outstripped supply.

Developing countries argue they don’t lack ambition when it comes to phasing out fossil fuels – it’s all about the means

Why do some developing countries appear to be resisting a fossil fuel phase-out? The answer is fundamentally about implementation – how countries struggling to eradicate poverty and provide basic services (including energy) for their people fund the transition away from fossil fuels.

The “means of implementation” has become a sticking point at the talks, with developing countries united in demanding that developed countries honour their legally binding obligations under the Paris agreement. Developing countries that have contributed so little to the climate crisis but are suffering the worst impacts argue that a phase-out must be centred around equity, which means it must be “fast, fair, funded and forever”.

Exclusive: analysis by Oxfam raises concerns about influence wielded by ultra-rich mega-emitters at summit

• Cop28 live – latest updates

At least a quarter of the billionaires registered as delegates at Cop28 made their fortunes from highly polluting industries such as petrochemicals, mining and beef production, a new analysis has shown.

The findings, revealed to the Guardian in an exclusive analysis of the 34 billionaires who are signed up to the UN summit, raise concerns about the influence wielded by ultra-rich, mega-emitters on the world’s efforts to tackle the climate crisis. Together the 34 are worth about $495.5bn.

The first study to quantify what our felines eat on a global scale finds they have a significant impact on wildlife

Cats may be adored human companions, but they are also highly effective killers, according to a study that shows they eat more than 2,000 species globally – including hundreds that are of conservation concern.

Since domestication 9,000 years ago, house cats have spread to all continents except Antarctica. In the paper, published in Nature Communications, researchers describe them as “amongst the most problematic invasive species in the world”.

Many accused of being too mired in fossil fuel hypocrisy, as wrangling over possible deal continues

• Cop28 live – latest updates

Rich countries have failed to show the leadership necessary to solve the climate crisis, and many are too mired in their own hypocrisy over fossil fuels to break the impasse at Cop28, climate justice advocates have told the Guardian.

Talks at the UN climate summit were deadlocked on Tuesday night, as countries fought over the wording of a potential deal on the future of fossil fuels.

Biodiversity Council says offsets should be a last resort and only used for ‘nature that we can replace’

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The Australian government should significantly constrain the use of biodiversity offsets under its environmental law reform agenda and stop them being used for critically endangered wildlife, according to a report by a partnership of 11 universities.

The Biodiversity Council also called on the Albanese government to define the term “nature positive” in law and set targets for what it will mean in practice, warning that without a clear mandate in legislation the term “will simply become another political slogan”.

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Charges would add to fund for at-risk nations but Andrew Mitchell believes colleagues would not back them

The UK’s international development minister, Andrew Mitchell, has played down the prospects of imposing a levy on frequent flyers to help fund the rescue and rehabilitation of poor countries stricken by climate disaster.

A small charge on airline tickets is one of several ideas floated by developing countries to provide cash for the loss and damage fund.

Graham Stuart’s surprise exit leaves civil servants in Dubai to finish negotiations in his absence

• Cop28 live – latest updates

The UK minister in charge of Cop28 climate talks has returned to London, the Guardian has learned, leaving civil servants to finish the fraught negotiations in his absence.

Graham Stuart, the minister of state for climate change, left Dubai on Tuesday morning to return to his duties as an MP, the government confirmed, even as the climate talks reached crisis point.

Leaders and activists must fight to the end in Dubai to stop vested interests sabotaging progress on fossil fuel phase-out and adaptation

As Cop28 in Dubai enters its final hours, the emotional weight of the moment is hard to bear. I find myself thinking of a six-year-old boy called Desmond I met in Turkana county, Kenya, who died from severe acute malnutrition on the same day. His death was the result of a climate-induced drought that has left millions of people on the brink of starvation in the Horn of Africa.

I want the negotiators deciding the outcome of Cop28 to know Desmond’s story. Because in the end, the climate crisis is not about pledges, statistics, reports or activists. It’s about human suffering and ruined lives. It’s about death.

Vanessa Nakate is a climate activist, Unicef goodwill ambassador and author of A Bigger Picture: My fight to bring a new African voice to the climate crisis

New draft text released by presidency omits reference to phase out of ‘fossil fuels’

Tuesday morning at Cop28 and we’re back in a waiting game. Heads of delegation met until the early hours, mostly expressing their deep unhappiness with the draft text produced by the summit presidency late Monday afternoon.

The scheduled end of the two-week conference has come and gone – that was 11am local – and as yet there is no new text to replace the document from yesterday. Anybody who says they know when this will end is guessing.

Exclusive: Report calls for new law on maximum indoor temperature to stop workers overheating

A maximum indoor temperature working law giving people a day off if workplace temperatures surpass 30C should be mandated by government, a new report recommends.

The report by the Fabian Society thinktank highlights inequalities in who bears the brunt of the impacts of climate breakdown and puts responsibility on bosses and landlords to stop people from overheating.