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Cop28’s landmark language

22 December 2023

Commentary
Colin Foreman
Editor

Read the January 2024 edition of MEED Business Review

It felt like Dubai was at the centre of world affairs in late November and early December as global leaders gathered for Cop28.

As superyachts berthed off the coast and helicopters buzzed overhead, the congress rubber-stamped Dubai’s resurgent economy that, since 2021, has swiftly moved on from the Covid-19 pandemic and reinforced its reputation as a playground for the rich and famous.

The influx of world leaders and their initial political statements quickly gave way to the real business of climate change negotiations, and after a one-day extension, Cop28 ended on 13 December with an agreement that stopped short of recommending what many wanted: the phasing down of fossil fuels.

Crucially, the agreement did acknowledge the need to transition away from fossil fuels to limit climate change to 1.5 degrees Celsius –  a compromise, but an important one. The closing statement said the agreement signals the “beginning of the end” of the fossil fuel era.

That may sound like a disaster for the Middle East’s oil-based economies, but the reality is the region has been moving to transition away from fossil fuels for years. Cop28 host Dubai has long been focused on diversifying its economy away from oil and gas. Other regional economies have followed. Even Saudi Arabia, one of the world’s largest oil producers, has embarked on its Vision 2030 economic transformation plan to diversify its economy away from hydrocarbons.

The diversification drive has involved developing tourism, logistics, finance and industry, and as these sectors grow, they need to be powered with electricity. Traditionally, this would have come from oil or gas-fired power plants. That is changing.

At Saudi’s Red Sea Project, solar plants and one of the world’s largest battery storage facilities have been built so that the development can be completely powered by renewable energy.

With commitments to treble renewable and nuclear power made at Cop28, there will be more projects like this to come.

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Colin Foreman

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