Members of the European Parliament have called for a global agreement at the upcoming UN COP28 climate summit to end the use of fossil fuels, reported Reuters.
Legislators in the EU are pushing for further pressure on nations to address CO₂-emitting energy sources such as oil and gas.
The COP28 conference is being held in Dubai from 30 November to 12 December 2023, where some 200 nations will meet to discuss more robust action against climate change.
In a resolution, the EU Parliament said the COP28 summit should reach an agreement on “a tangible phase-out of fossil fuels as soon as possible, to keep 1.5°C within reach, including by halting all new investments in fossil fuel extraction”.
While the EU Parliament does not participate directly in COP28 negotiations, it does send a delegation to meet with representatives of other nations.
As part of the 2015 Paris Agreement, nations are committed to taking steps to prevent global temperatures from rising above 1.5°C above preindustrial levels.
If this threshold were to be exceeded, considerably more severe and catastrophic extreme weather events could occur.
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Citing a UN report, the publication said the countries’ existing emissions objectives would cause global warming of almost 3°C this century.
The UN has called for immediate action to accelerate emission reductions.
With 462 votes in support, 134 votes against and 30 abstentions, EU legislators passed the resolution.
Pär Holmgren, one of the co-authors of the resolution and a green lawmaker, stated that the time has passed to hold a debate over how soon to address climate change.
“We need to start work and understand that we are already in the crisis of climate change,” Holmgren added.
The EU should “make significant multi-year pledges” to a new climate damage fund that will be formed at COP28, the EU lawmakers said, adding that governments should stop subsidising fossil fuels by 2025.
The EU nations intend to pursue the phase-out of “unabated” fossil fuels.
This will allow nations to continue burning coal, gas and oil as long as they deploy technology to ‘abate’, or collect, the associated emissions.
