Dulcie Lee
Live reporter, at COP28

Image source, EPA

"Is this it? Is this the moment?" I shouted to my colleague in disbelief over the rapturous applause breaking out just moments after COP28 president Sultan al-Jaber began speaking here in Dubai.

After almost 40 hours of deadlock over the future of fossil fuels, many were bracing for a messy fight on the conference floor. But as Jaber banged the gavel, it was all over.

Image source, Getty Images

The host country, the United Arab Emirates, had built expectations sky-high in the first few days, with Jaber proposing a deal to "phase out" fossil fuels.

In the end, the final pact doesn't go so far. It "calls on" countries to "transition away" from fossil fuels, and specifically for energy systems – but not for plastics, transport or agriculture.

Moments later, the applause had turned to stunned silence when a delegate representing small island states, who are particularly vulnerable to climate change, accused the president of pushing through the text while they weren't in the room. The final text had a “litany of loopholes”, they said.

Their speech kicked off several hours of symbolic statements made from countries – but they had all accepted the compromise.

What now?

Well, the remaining team here at COP28 are going to unfold ourselves from the novelty-sized rocking chairs we've found - one of the last remaining pieces of furniture at Expo 2020 - and head home.

But there's plenty more to help you understand exactly what happened here in Dubai:

• My colleague Georgina Rannard has the full story here
• What does this mean for the future? Environment correspondent Matt McGrath takes a look here
• New episodes of Newscast and the Climate Question will drop soon - our climate editor Justin Rowlatt will be digging into the detail

From the team here in Dubai, thanks for joining us. See you in Azerbaijan for COP29.

Matt McGrath
Environment correspondent, at COP28

Image source, Reuters

By itself, will this deal be enough to save the "north star" of this COP - keeping temperatures under 1.5C this century?

Most likely not.

The major element of the deal, the transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems, is indeed a landmark moment. But the language is far weaker than many countries desired.

The UAE presidency had included strong text on the idea of a fossil fuel phase out from the start of the meeting.

But in the face of opposition from many, they dropped it from their first attempt at a draft agreement. Cue fury among progressives and much finger pointing at oil producers.

Continue reading here.

Image source, EPA

Opec - the group of 13 oil producing countries - has chimed in, congratulating the UAE for the "positive outcome" of this year's COP.

Opec produces about a third of the world's crude oil and their governments rely heavily on that money from it. So they've likely been watching today's COP deal - which mentioned fossil fuels (which includes oil) for the first time - closely.

In a statement just now, they said: "Without adequate levels of investment, the future of our industry is in jeopardy."

Earlier, Saudi Arabia - which is in Opec - said the texts agreed today "do not affect our exports, do not affect our ability to sell".

With the pledges and commitments made this year, has the summit been a success? We chew it over in the two-minute clip below:

Image source, EPA

While most delegates have chewed the fat with journalists in huddles outside the main meeting room, the United States climate envoy has opted for a slightly different approach.

John Kerry has just finished a joint press conference with his Chinese counterpart Xie Zhenhua.

The pair, representing the world's two largest economies (and two biggest carbon emitters), say it was joint USA-China proposals that got negotiations moving again, just as they appeared doomed.

With an historic agreement signed, John Kerry says he feels the world has now turned a corner.

"The first and easiest thing that countries need to do to make this commitment real is to stop building new unabated coal, and we will continue to fight for that." (Unabated coal is coal whose emissions are released directly into the atmosphere, without using tech to capture their planet-warming gases).

Dulcie Lee
Live reporter, at COP28

After more than six hours, the meeting that approved this global deal on fossil fuels has finally finished.

Shortly after 11:00 this morning (07:00 GMT), the world agreed to move away from using fossil fuels for the first time.

Now, the COP28 president Sultan al-Jaber hugs his colleagues on stage, before the dwindling audience begin packing their bags.

We've now got two hours to finish up here in the media centre, before they forcibly shuffle us out the door.

Most of the vast Expo 2020 centre is a ghost town already, with the food vans well and truly locked up (we're studiously conserving our final pack of dates).

The team that run this site aren't messing about - they've got to be ready for Dubai's winter wonderland festival the day after tomorrow.

Delegates have been filtering out of the main meeting room into a sea of journalists. Here's what some of them are saying.

Image source, EPA

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Georgina Rannard
Climate reporter, at COP28

I've come outside for some fresh air after hours inside the windowless COP rooms. And at least the internet works better out here.

I can hear birds chirping, and after the drama and rush of the morning, it's good to finally get a moment to think.

Many people here are still digesting the real meaning of the deal struck today - could it change how we live our lives this year? How about in the next 20 years? And how much closer to tackling the crisis facing millions around the world are we?

There'll be lots more to say in the coming weeks.

But inside the final plenary was still going on - I walked past a screen showing COP president Sultan al-Jaber gavelling through the more arcane parts of the UN climate framework.

There's plenty to recap from that whirlwind morning in Dubai. We're just coming up to six hours since the deal was struck and if your head is spinning trying to digest it all, here's a breakdown:

• Nearly 200 countries at the UN's climate summit have agreed a new global deal calling on countries to contribute to a move away from fossil fuels
• This is significant because it's the first time there's been explicit mention in a COP agreement of reducing use of fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas) - the main driver of climate change
• But the the deal stops short of calling for a complete phase-out - which some countries wanted. Methane (one of the most potent greenhouse gasses) is also not mentioned
• Small island nations, who are most at risk of the effects of climate change, say the deal doesn't do enough to protect them. They also complained they weren't in the room when it was approved
• One criticism from developing countries is that the agreement doesn't require richer countries to provide financial support
• And another criticism is over fairness - that the language on moving away from fossil fuels does not ask developed countries to lead on it when they've economically benefited from fossil fuels for longer
• Climate scientists are reacting too - some climate science isn't reflected in the agreement, they say, while others say it's an essential "baby step"

TLDR: Nearly 200 countries have agreed a new global deal on climate change - the biggest step forward on climate since 2015. For the first time they're calling for a move away from fossil fuels, but the language is far weaker than many countries wanted

More reaction now from the group of small island states, who are particularly vulnerable to climate change and earlier criticised parts of the deal - and said they weren't in the room when it was approved.

Climate campaigner Drue Slater, from Fiji, responds to the countries who say the deal has sent a signal that the fossil fuel era will be ending. "The time for signalling is long past," she says.

Meanwhile activist Brianna Fruean, from Samoa, says celebrating this deal would be like "celebrating flowers that will lie on our grave". "How can you ask us to do that?"

She says there are "small bits... of success" but that part of it "still crosses the 1.5C line", on which she says the islands' survival rests.

"When we were invited by the president [of COP] we were told this would be a "historic win... It's almost like the spirit of how we began this COP is not how were ending."

Dulcie Lee
Live reporter, at COP28

As we trudged back across the huge hallways of this conference towards the media centre a few moments ago, we stopped briefly to watch the COP28 president on one of the several TV screens here.

Sultan al-Jaber is still in the main hall - five hours after the meeting began and the deal was agreed.

Peering at the huge high-definition screen, it's safe to say he looks as tired as the rest of us.

Some of us took a brief lie down after operating on a few snatched hours of sleep and half a packet of biscuits. However, as we stared up at the ceiling, we were given the distinct impression that we were being urged to continue...

Jake Lapham
Live reporter

The chief aim of COP is to figure out how to limit the global temperature rise to 1.5C - which experts say would limit the very worst impacts of warming. Here's how a few top scientists have reacted:

And now for another perspective - this time from the former joint director of Greenpeace, who's now Germany's climate envoy.

Jennifer Morgan describes the text as a "big step" in creating a "just and sustainable world" - and that the hold-ups in talks came from wanting to "transition away from fossil fuels" but also from needing to make developing countries feel they were being listened to and could make that transition themselves.

Asked whether the text goes far enough, Morgan says the text is a "signal". "You would have to be a very bad listener... to miss the signal that the future is renewables... from my perspective [it] is quite clear and can't be ignored."

She adds that there's "great" language in the agreement about reducing deforestation and that Germany takes "very seriously" the concerns of the small island states.

Is this enough to limit climate change?published at 11:21 Greenwich Mean Time 13 December 2023

11:21 GMT 13 December 2023

Matt McGrath
Environment correspondent, at COP28

While the deal in Dubai might be the biggest step forward since the Paris agreement, by itself it will likely not be enough to keep global temperatures under the key 1.5C threshold.

That’s because the world has continued to pile up emissions in the atmosphere from the use of fossil fuels at historic rates – and those gases will continue to warm the world for centuries.

In the longer term, the agreement on transitioning away from fossil fuels for energy systems, may help the world to get closer to net zero by 2050.

The hope will be that the commitment in the new deal to triple renewables and energy efficiency by 2030, will see wind and solar replace coal, oil and gas.

One area where the new deal could make a big difference is relating to the actions of individual countries. All are now required to submit stronger carbon cutting plans by 2025.

If China and India put a rapid transition to green energy at the heart of their new plans, that could make a massive difference.

The World Wildlife Fund says the call to transition away from fossil fuels is a significant moment - but criticises the deal as falling "short of consensus on the full phase out" of fossil fuel use.

Manuel Pulgar-Vidal from the WWF describes the earth as "down but not out" and says countries have "at last shifted the focus to the polluting fossil fuels driving the climate crisis".

"This outcome must signal the beginning of the end for the fossil fuel era," he says - but "for a liveable planet we need a full phase out of all fossil fuels".

Pulgar-Vidal - who was president of COP20 in Peru in 2014 - also says it is unfortunate the deal included a big role for what he calls "dangerous distractions" - like the large-scale use of carbon capture and storage, or the burning of "transitional fuels".

Esme Stallard
Climate reporter, at COP28

Image source, Reuters

There are multiple texts that countries agreed today. And the overarching one - the one that's making the headlines - is the "global stocktake" text.

It covers how far we have come in reducing emissions, preparing for climate change and financing these changes.

Running to more than 20 pages and nearly 200 clauses, it includes:

• It calls on countries to contribute to transition away from fossil fuels. This is the first time we have had an explicit mention of reducing our use of fossil fuels - the main driver of climate change
• There is a recognition that emissions will peak in the future but said that the date of this will be different depending if you are a developed or developing country
• The text also recognised that the current levels of finance given by richer countries to help their poorer counterparts cope with climate change and move to renewables has been lacking. But it doesn't go beyond that to require that richer nations do more to address this
• There is no reference to reduce methane emissions which has been in earlier texts. This is one of the most potent greenhouse gas emissions

Let's take a break for a second and remind ourselves what all of this means. Here's a recap of some of the key terms we've been using:

Fossil fuels: The climate change seen in the last century has been caused by humans, mainly in our widespread use of fossil fuels - coal, oil and gas - which are used and produced in homes, factories and transport

1.5C: The world is 1.1C warmer than it was at the end of the 1800s. In Paris in 2015, almost 200 countries pledged to try to keep this warming to 1.5C, and today the COP text recognised the need for sustained reductions in fossil fuel use to keep the warming below this level

Phase out: This is a term that countries at COP wanted to be included in the deal, about fossil fuels. "Phasing out" fossil fuels would require countries to gradually lower how much they make and use until they reached zero. The deal agreed in Dubai calls for "reducing" them - bringing down how much a country relies on fossil fuels, without requiring a target of zero

Renewable energy: As well as encouraging nations to transition away from fossil fuels, the COP agreement includes commitments to increase renewable energy. This is energy that comes from natural sources that will not run out, like sunlight and wind.

• You can read more about climate change here.

Georgina Rannard
Climate reporter, at COP28

Now a rare chance to hear from Russia on climate change, whose representative praises the deal.

"Each party can choose their most optimal recipe for decarbonisation," he says, talking about how nations will move away from reliance on fossil fuels.

He calls the outcome "ambitious".

But he highlights that principle which was agreed by nations in 2015 that countries have different historical responsibilities. He repeats that not all countries should stop using fossil fuels at the same speed, for example nations that didn't get rich off fossil fuels being allowed more time to transition.

Russia is a member of the OPEC+ group that represents oil-rich nations. Many countries here have made the same point - it's clearly been a huge issue in these negotiations.

More now from our interview with the UK's climate minister Graham Stuart. Earlier this week he left the summit to fly back to London for a key vote in Parliament, and then came back for the final day today.

Asked if his leaving the conference in the middle of negotiations signals the UK was not involved enough, he says the UK was "absolutely central to the outcomes" reached in the deal.

Stuart says he was in "constant contact" with his team on the ground in Dubai who were key to the negotiations.

"We were here, fully on the ground, fully in touch and all decisions came through me," he adds.

Image source, EPA

We've just interviewed the UK's climate minister, who says he was delighted to see COP28 come to a global agreement for the first time to transition away from fossil fuels.

"We need to ensure that we translate it into action and we keep up momentum," Graham Stuart tells the BBC.

But he also says he would have liked to see more done about preventing the use of new coal, which he describes as the "most polluting of all fossil fuels".

He was asked about the UK granting new licences for oil and gas drilling in the North Sea. Would the UK be willing to cancel them in light of today's deal?

Stuart says fossil fuel production there is declining and new licences "simply allow us to manage it". Licences allow new investment to make North Sea projects more "green", he says, adding this is "absolutely a transition away from fossil fuels".

"Our production of fossil fuels mean that if we stopped [North Sea oil and gas extraction], we would simply import more from abroad with higher embedded emissions than producing at home."