198 countries have signed an agreement to combat climate change

198 countries signed an agreement on joint efforts in the fight against climate change. It was the result of the COP28 world climate summit in Dubai. The participants of the agreement adopted a plan to reduce harmful emissions into the atmosphere and transition to environmentally friendly, renewable energy sources.

Among the goals specified in the document is the reduction of the use of fossil fuels (oil, gas and coal). By 2030, the goal is to triple the use of renewable energy sources and double energy efficiency. Further withdrawal from fossil fuels should reduce greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050. Participating countries intend in the future to adopt relevant resolutions at the state level, obliging all their industrial enterprises to comply with them.

The president of the summit, Sultan al-Jaber, called the agreement “historic.” US President Joe Biden also welcomed the ego, calling it an “important milestone”.

However, it unleashed a wave of criticism from both a number of event participants and observers. They believe that the goal of climate measures should not be to reduce the use of fossil fuels, but to completely abandon them. This wording was insisted on at the summit, in particular, by the delegations of the USA, Great Britain and the European Union. Representatives of the Alliance of Small Island States, which includes 39 countries, said that the agreement was adopted when they were not present in the meeting hall. Many participants point out that the text of the document contains “holes” that allow to bypass it, and independent experts believe that the measures specified in it are not sufficient to achieve the set goals.

Sultan Al-Jaber himself was criticized. His opponents emphasize that Al-Jaber heads the largest oil company Adnoc in Abu Dhabi and can pursue his business interests at the summit.

These suspicions intensified after documents on negotiations between the UAE and the governments of at least 27 countries in preparation for the summit became publicly available. According to the investigators presented by the BBC and the Center for Climate Journalism, they were talking about the conclusion of deals for the sale of oil and gas that would be beneficial for the UAE.

• The World Climate Summit COP28 was held in Dubai under the auspices of the United Nations from November 30 to December 12. The next one, SOR29, will be held at the end of 2024 in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, also a major producer and exporter of oil.