Five dry words — “transitioning away from fossil fuels” — led to a bitter diplomatic spat Tuesday.
A handful of petrostates, led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, ensured that a United Nations General Assembly resolution on climate change steered clear of such language, despite established scientific consensus that the continued burning of coal, oil, and gas is rapidly heating up the planet.
This situation illustrates how a few countries, driven by their own economic and political interests, can hinder global efforts to mitigate dangerous levels of global warming.
The General Assembly resolution is not binding; however, the significance of language in diplomacy is profound. The effort to remove the critical phrase regarding a transition from fossil fuels is part of a concerted yearlong diplomatic campaign by Saudi Arabia to encourage nations to distance themselves from a commitment made at last year’s global climate talks in Dubai to move away from oil, gas, and coal.
The commitment made at the COP28 climate talks last December was vague about the transition process. Nonetheless, it marked the first instance of an explicit mention of decarbonizing the world’s energy system in an international agreement, paving the way for similar language in subsequent agreements, including the resolution being negotiated at the General Assembly in New York.
The European Union proposed an amendment reflecting the COP28 agreement, which included goals for tripling renewable energy capacity, doubling energy efficiency, and “transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems, in a just, orderly, and equitable manner.”
This amendment was rejected during the voting process.
Saudi Arabia argued that the amendment lacked “balance,” while Russia described it as “cherry-picking” from the broader COP28 deal.
Fiji encapsulated the sentiments of those advocating for a phase-out of fossil fuels by stating, “We need to be guided by science.”
The resolution on the “protection of global climate for present and future generations of humankind” is an annual procedure intended to endorse the outcomes of previous climate talks.
Despite scientific evidence, the dominance of fossil fuels is evident, with global carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels having increased in 2023 and projected to reach a record 37.4 billion metric tons in 2024, according to new data from the Global Carbon Project.
Saudi Arabia has effectively opposed the inclusion of similar fossil fuel transition language in other international declarations, including at a United Nations-led biodiversity summit. However, Saudi officials did not succeed in eliminating fossil fuel transition language in the agreement reached at the COP29 climate negotiations in Baku, Azerbaijan, earlier this month.