Summary

  • A new deal has been agreed at the UN climate summit in Dubai after days of negotiations

  • For the first time, the deal calls on all countries to move away from using fossil fuels - but not to phase them out, something many governments wanted

  • The text recognises the need for deep, rapid and sustained reductions if humanity is to limit temperature rises to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels

  • The COP28 president said nations had "confronted realities and... set the world in the right direction"

  • Burning fossil fuels drives global warming, risking millions of lives. So far, governments have never collectively agreed to stop using them

  • Island nations hard-hit by climate change are critical - representative Samoa says they were "not in the room" when the deal was approved

  • Campaign groups also say the agreement doesn't go far enough; Greenpeace says it won't be possible to achieve the transition in a "fair and fast manner"

Live Reporting

Edited by Dulcie Lee at COP28 in Dubai

  1. Is this the beginning of the end for fossil fuels?

    Matt McGrath
    Environment correspondent, at COP28

    COP28 President Sultan al-Jaber and UNFCCC Executive Secretary Simon Stiell hug.Reuters

    COP28 President Sultan al-Jaber and UN climate change boss Simon Stiell

    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.

  2. This deal doesn't affect our oil exports, says Saudi Arabia

    Prince Abdulaziz bin SalmanEPA

    Saudi Arabia's energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman at the plenary session this morning

    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".

  3. China and US got the talks going again, says Chinese envoy

    China's climate envoy Xie Zhenhua pointing at U.S. climate envoy John KerryEPA

    There were times in the last 48 hours that some of us thought this could fail, Kerry said

    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).

  4. Celebrating deal is like celebrating flowers on our grave, say islanders

    Brianna Fruean and Drue Slater on the BBC News channel

    Brianna Fruean and Drue Slater, who criticise the deal

    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."

  5. What are scientists saying?

    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:

    The agreement finally puts into words what scientists have been saying for decades – that continued fossil fuel use must be eliminated to avoid the worst consequences of climate change.

    Dr Ella Gilbert, Climate modeller, British Antarctic Survey

    The agreement, though inadequate, is an essential and sustained baby step towards the goal of limiting human caused climate change.

    Prof Richard Allan, Climate scientist, University of Reading

    The wording of the final text from COP doesn't match with the science and there is real concern we will miss targets.

    Dr Chloe Brimicombe, Climate scientist, Wegener Center for Climate and Global Change

    'Transitioning away from fossil fuels' is not the needed emergency break.

    Prof Niklas Höhne, Climate policy scientist, NewClimate Institute

    At my lowest points as a climate scientist I did not think I would see a COP agreement that includes wording on the start of transitioning away from fossil fuels in my lifetime."

    Prof Mary Gagen, Climate scientist, Swansea University

  6. Analysis

    Is this enough to limit climate change?

    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.

  7. 'For a liveable planet we need to phase out all fossil fuels'

    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".

    "[It] is clear that eight years on from the Paris Agreement, we are still way off course to limit global warming to 1.5C and avert the worst impacts of the climate crisis."

    Manuel Pulgar-Vidal

  8. 'Phase out'... what are you on about? The key terms explained

    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.

  9. Russia praises 'ambitious' deal

    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.

  10. We were absolutely central to outcome, says UK

    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.