Rise in green energy capacity, stopping fossil fuels, reducing methane discussed for first time at COP28

The issues are under discussion for the first time at COP and various proposals will be discussed and negotiatied over the coming days to reach common ground. There is the possibility that none of them will make it to the final decisions.

Fossil fuels account for nearly 80 per cent of all global emissions, yet their phase-out has never been part of any agenda at the climate conference. Mention of its phase-down was made for the first time at the Glasgow conference in 2021.

International Energy Agency assessments suggest if the global renewable energy capacity is increased from the current approximate of 3,400 GW to about 11,000 GW by 2030, it will help avoid nearly one billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions every year on an average. This amounts to more than what other climate actions undertaken by other countries are together expected to achieve by 2030.

Tripling enewable energy has already received wide support from countries. The G20 countries had backed it during the New Delhi Summit in September, and more than 120 countries gave their support to it through a pledge here at COP28. However, this doesn’t mean its a done deal. Decisions at the COP meetings are taken by consensus, and even one country can block the entire agreement.

Reduction of methane emissions is a much more contentious issue, with countries like India completely opposed to it. Methane is several times more potent than carbon dioxide in its ability to cause global warming, as it remains in the atmosphere only for a few years, unlike carbon dioxide which survives for hundreds of years. One of the major sources of methane emissions happen to be agriculture and livestock, sectors that India and other countries are extremely protective about. In Glasgow, over a hundred countries had pledged to reduce their methane emissions by 2030, but that decision was outside the COP process.

A rapid phaseout of  unabated coal power this decade and an immediate cessation on permitting new unabated coal power generation, which is also one of the proposals in the draft text, was also expeted to be hotly contested.

Countries have to deliver a final outcome by December 12, the last day of the conference.