Deal welcome but global commitment to phase out of fossil fuels urgently needed
COP30:
Belém, Brazil. Today, negotiators from around are set to sign a deal at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP30) in Brazil, which sees a commitment to triple international funding for climate adaptation by 2035 and only goes as far as references to upcoming multilateral initiatives on the phase out of fossil fuels instead of a full roadmap.
Bas Eickhout MEP, President of the Greens/EFA Group and part of the European Parliament delegation to COP30, comments:
“In the end, there is a compromise, which in these extremely difficult geopolitical times shouldn’t be taken for granted. We welcome the commitment to triple international funding for climate adaptation. The world has taken a small step in the right direction today, but it would be overly generous to call this a success: A global commitment to phase-out fossil fuels remains ambiguous. Ten years after that Paris agreement this is insufficient.
“This year’s process was overly chaotic, slow, and repeatedly blocked by fossil interests, which doesn’t bode well for next year. The EU was initially too timid but in the end played a constructive role, which it needs to strengthen in future. Diplomatic efforts on behalf of the EU, including promoting Mercosur despite its climate-wrecking potential, didn’t pan out. The EU cannot act alone and must heavily invest in international diplomacy.
“This could have been the COP that agreed to the phase out of fossil fuels but the Saudi, Indian and other governments held the world back. We cannot allow global efforts to end the use of climate killing fuels to be thwarted by oil giants and fossil fuel addicts. Discussions on the phase out of fossil fuels will now continue through further international dialogue and the EU must throw its full political weight and push for a phase out.
“Thousands of activists, indigenous communities, and young people have shown that they are ready to fight for their future. World leaders must reflect this courage going forward. We are still on course for more than 1.5 degrees of global warming and this will be disastrous with more floods, more fires, more droughts and more deaths. Without a fossil phase-out and real ambition, it’s people across the globe who will pay the price, with their lives and their futures.”
