– The world needed to find a new way, and we have delivered that. Together we have confronted reality, we have given the world a robust action plan to keep the 1.5 degree target alive, said the leader of the climate summit, Sultan al-Jaber, from the podium in Dubai. Early Wednesday morning, one day overtime, the Emirati presidency hammered through a final declaration that obliges the world’s countries to transition away from fossil energy. Espen Barth Eide explains to news’s reporters where the negotiations stand. Photo: Truls Alnes Antonsen / news – For the first time ever, we have language in the agreement that will end fossil fuels, said Sultan al-Jaber, who received great applause from the audience. Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide is also satisfied. – We are making history today, says Eide. It is the first time the world has united around such a clear text about the need to move away from fossil fuels, says Eide. Eide has previously referred to coal, gas and oil as the elephant in the room. – This is a breakthrough, and sets a clear direction for all countries. We are going away from the fossil world and over to the renewable one, says climate and environment minister Andreas Bjelland Eriksen, who took part in the negotiations in Dubai. For the first time, the world’s countries agree that their energy systems must move away from fossil fuels, including oil and gas. It resulted in a standing ovation from, among others, Andreas Bjelland Eriksen. Photo: Ministry of Climate and the Environment – The beginning of the end of fossil fuels Energy transition emerged as one of the most important topics during the climate negotiations in Dubai. – For the first time in 30 years, we can reach the beginning of the end of fossil fuels, said the EU’s climate chief Wopke Hoekstra when the delegates entered a plenary session on Wednesday. It was a proud climate chief who thanked the world from the podium in Dubai on Wednesday. – From the bottom of my heart, thank you. We have traveled a long way together, for the past two weeks we have worked very hard to ensure a better future for people and for our world, said Sultan al-Jaber. Sultan al-Jaber received great applause from the hall in Dubai when he presented the final declaration of the climate negotiations. Photo: AP Sultan al-Jaber nevertheless emphasized that for the agreement to produce results, the world must take important steps in the right direction. – An agreement is only as good as our implementation. We are what we do, not what we say. We must take the necessary steps to make this agreement tangible,” said Sultan al-Jaber. The climate chief also said that the process behind the agreement has been driven by solidarity, transparency and the willingness to listen. But the alliance of small island states say they were not present in the room when the deal was hammered out. They think it doesn’t go far enough. The head of the climate summit, Sultan al-Jaber (th) had a chat with Espen Barth Eide the evening before the agreement was sealed. Photo: Milana Knežević / news Important little words Central terms during the negotiations were in the seemingly small words “phase out” or “phase down” and “abated” or “unabated”. Linguistically, the difference is not that great, but in practice it makes a big difference. Which and how these little words are used was one of the most important things during the negotiations in Dubai. Karoline Andaur says the new climate agreement is a milestone in the climate negotiations. Photo: NTB After intense negotiations overtime, the world’s countries decided that they will transition away from fossil energy. – Even with many loopholes, the decision marks a long-awaited crossroads in the climate negotiations, but comes many years too late, says secretary general of the WWF World Wide Fund for Nature, Karoline Andaur. There has been an expectation from many, and a great deal of pressure from civil society, that a decision should be made that all fossil fuels should be phased out completely. The world’s leaders could not agree on this. Nevertheless, WWF sees the formulations around fossil energy as an important step forward in the climate negotiations. – This is an important milestone in the climate negotiations. For several decades, world leaders have met at climate summits without addressing the main cause of the climate crisis: fossil energy, says Andur. – Thin soup Environmental organizations around the world have been following the summit in Dubai closely for the last couple of weeks. Several of them react strongly to the agreement. – The closing statement is a really thin soup. It contains huge loopholes that will allow the fossil fuel industry to continue throwing fuel on the fire, says Frode Pleym, head of Greenpeace. Pleym thinks it is “sad and provocative” that after 28 climate summits the politicians are still unable to agree on clear language on the phasing out of coal, oil and gas. – At the same time, the agreement is better than nothing, after all it mentions coal, oil and gas, or the “elephant in the room”, as Espen Barth Eide calls it, says Pleym. We have come a step further, but this is not the historic decision I was hoping for, says Elise Åsnes. Photo: Eivind Molde / news Elise Åsnes in Spire believes the new agreement is a step forward, but that there are also big red flags in the decision. – Carbon capture and storage is used as a dangerous distraction, and an excuse for rich countries not to carry out the absolutely necessary climate measures, says Åsnes. Many countries from the global south have been clear that more funding and support is needed for them to adapt to climate change and finance a green transition. Spire believes that resource-rich countries such as Norway have to take their historical responsibility. Hope it will be more difficult for Norwegian oil Climate and environmental policy spokesperson in SV, Lars Haltbrekken, believes the agreement must have major consequences for Norwegian oil and gas production. Lars Haltbrekken believes it is high time that the Norwegian government takes the warnings against oil and gas exploration to heart. Photo: Milana Knezevic / news – It is our common future that matters now. An agreement that states that fossil energy will disappear within a few years represents progress. This must also have major consequences for Norwegian oil and gas production, Haltbrekken believes. – It is high time that the Norwegian government takes to heart the clear and numerous warnings against continued oil and gas exploration and halts new exploration activities, says Haltbrekken. Red and MDG also believe that Norway now needs a plan for phasing out oil and gas, and a fair transition. – The government has blocked it, but now they have to come up with better ideas. The government must stop speaking with two tongues, and create a real restructuring plan for Norway, says Sofie Marhaug (R), deputy chair of the energy and environment committee. MGD believes that Norway is rightly called double standards in the fight against climate change. – We say we want restructuring, but we continue to invest in oil and gas so it will catch on, says Une Bastholm (MDG) in the energy and environment committee. – We have the highest ambitions, said Sultan al-Jaber when asked by news – two days before the agreement was sealed. Photo: Truls Alnes Antonsen / news Says phasing out is essential Both researchers, environmental organizations and several world leaders have been clear that a total phasing out of the production and use of fossil fuels is absolutely essential to prevent a global climate catastrophe. The climate agreement sends a strong signal that the world’s leaders recognize this very fact. So says Dr. Rachel Cleetus, policy director and lead economist for the climate and energy program at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCSUSA). – The last few days have shown us that nations and people committed to upholding science and justice have the power to stand up to fossil fuel interests and petro-states, who have tried to block a strong agreement here in Dubai, says Cleetus. Despite the fact that the outcome was not as ambitious as the Nature Conservancy had hoped, Hansen praises Norway and the negotiators led by the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Photo: PRIVAT The Nature Conservation Association believes the agreement should have been even clearer when it comes to the exit from fossil fuels. – We are afraid that the laggards can hide behind language about transitional solutions and technology that does not yet exist. These loopholes wanted a united international environmental movement and many of the countries to close, says Pernille Hansen, deputy chairperson of the Nature Conservation Association. There are also major unanswered questions about financing the transition for countries in the South, says Hansen. Aroused strong reactions On Monday afternoon, the first draft of the agreement was presented. It led to strong criticism because many believed that it contained too few binding statements about reducing the use of coal, oil and gas. – The Marshall Islands did not come here to sign our own death warrant, was the formulation of John Silk, Minister for Natural Resources in the vulnerable island state. – The text is not good enough, a view shared by the majority of the world’s countries, said Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide to news. He made it clear that if the text does not improve, Norway cannot sign. Former vice president of the United States, Al Gore, went even further: “By the petrostates, by the petrostates and for the petrostates,” he wrote on X/Twitter.
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