Unabated – as in: "The UK position is clear – there must be a phase out of unabated fossil fuel [extraction and use] to meet our climate goal."
This is clear if a bit arcane as unabated fossil fuel use is consistent with net zero goals which we've all (mostly) signed up to.
But it's not what the purist activists want. Their preference is also clear – a complete phase out of fossil fuels extraction and use. This is their goal no matter what immiseration it might cause.
I'm with the UK government (for once). Who are the Saudis with?
I write this on Tuesday morning, so time will tell.
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Wednesday morning brings a new draft and this in #28 of the Mitigation section of the text (my emphasis):
28. Further recognizes the need for deep, rapid and sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in line with 1.5 °C pathways and calls on Parties to contribute to the following global efforts, in a nationally determined manner, taking into account the Paris Agreement and their different national circumstances, pathways and approaches:
(a) Tripling renewable energy capacity globally and doubling the global average annual rate of energy efficiency improvements by 2030;
(b) Accelerating efforts towards the phase-down of unabated coal power;
(c) Accelerating efforts globally towards net zero emission energy systems, utilizing zero- and low-carbon fuels well before or by around mid-century;
(d) Transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems, in a just, orderly and equitable manner, accelerating action in this critical decade, so as to achieve net zero by 2050 in keeping with the science;
(e) Accelerating zero- and low-emission technologies, including, inter alia, renewables, nuclear, abatement and removal technologies such as carbon capture and utilization and storage, particularly in hard-to-abate sectors, and low-carbon hydrogen production;
(f) Accelerating and substantially reducing non-carbon-dioxide emissions globally, including in particular methane emissions by 2030;
(g) Accelerating the reduction of emissions from road transport on a range of pathways, including through development of infrastructure and rapid deployment of zero-and low-emission vehicles;
(h) Phasing out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies that do not address energy poverty or just transitions, as soon as possible;
At the risk of sounding complacent, whilst trying to be a realist, this looks good enough to me for the moment. And to the Saudis by the sound of it as it has been agreed. Here's an alternative view from Ross Clark in The Spectator, a different one from The Economist, and a third from The Times.
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PS, I've tried to follow the ups and downs of the efforts to agree; one thing is clear, TV has been pretty useless, preferring drama to detail and emotion to exegesis. No mention of "abatement" for example despite all that spending on air fares and hotel bills.
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