This is 8 Minutes a podcast helping you understand the energy and climate challenge . In just a few minutes . I'm your host , Paul Schuster . Cop28 wrapped up an intense two weeks of climate negotiations last week . By some estimates , over 400,000 people attended this year's climate conference in Dubai , and the results were well .
As with any multilateral agreement seeking compromise , the final document left some feeling like it was a bit of a mixed bag . But the COP isn't just about the delegations , nor the highly anticipated global stocktake that came with this year's event .
Every conference of the parties is split between two areas a green zone , where the global negotiations take place , and the blue zone , where the general public can learn about the new processes and commitments from both public and private entities from across the globe , and there were a lot of announcements at this year's event .
So let's dig into what went down in Dubai , what the outcomes of the official global stocktake revealed , as well as what happened over in the other zone , where the energy towards climate commitment hit a new high , in many ways highlighting what may be best summarized as a tale of two cops 8 Minutes .
It's how long it takes the suns raised to Earth , or how long I made it this year without hearing Wham's Last Christmas ? Is it just me , or is that song literally everywhere ? Let's get it on . The 28th conference of the parties was supposed to be a moment to step back and really review how the planet is doing in limiting our global warming .
When the Paris Agreement was ratified in 2015 , the document called for a global stocktake every five years to monitor and review how we're doing towards meeting our goals .
This year was the release of the first global stocktake , and interest in the conference was further heightened earlier in the summer when an initial report from the IPCC , the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change , indicated that this cup may be our last chance to keep the planet from exceeding our ambitious 1.5 degree Celsius target .
There was going to be a lot of scrutiny on this year's event regardless . But then add to that the fact that the cup was being held in the United Arab Emirates , a nation heavily dependent on oil production . But well , in many ways the negotiations at COP did achieve some really good things .
After two grueling weeks that even went into overtime by a day or two , the end agreement did accomplish something not seen before . For the first time , a COP agreement specifically called out fossil fuels and called for a transition away from their usage .
While not as forceful of language as some countries have been calling for , preferring instead to see wording around the phase out of fossil fuels , the inclusion of the language at all was something of a win .
Earlier in the week , the president of the COP , Sultan Al-Jabbar , had stirred controversy by suggesting that the science wasn't there to phase out fossil fuels in order to reach global targets .
An early draft of the agreement stripped fossil language completely from the document , so to have it reinserted and publicly agreed to is a big deal , Of course , as many observers said . Afterward now comes the hard part how do we translate that new commitment into action ?
The negotiated text had a few areas where it outlined some basic approaches , committing to a tripling of renewable energy , the operationalization of a loss and damage fund , a doubling of energy efficiency , and countries are now being asked to have detailed adoption plans in place by 2025 to show how they plan on meeting these new commitments .
Yes , opinion on the final negotiated text is divided . Some experts hail it as historic and the beginning of the end for fossil fuels , while others point out potential loopholes that undercut the teeth of the agreement In any regard .
Nearly 200 countries signed on to that final text , marking again a recognition on a global scale that we're all in this together and marching forward towards change . How to actualize that change , though ?
That's not going to be easy , which brings us to the other COP , the one that was playing out in the public zone , Because it's here where a number of companies and municipalities and NGOs all aligned on actions that would be needed to curb climate change .
For instance , there was a startup village devoted to companies that were advancing the latest in new climate technologies for the planet , Everything from low carbon concrete to spray on coatings for solar panels and while those companies were pitching their products to climate executives from around the world , their VC and private equity financing partners were working on the
investment models needed to capitalize these business solutions . A good portion of the COP was handed over to the intersection between public , private and philanthropic financing and finding the ways that these different dollars and investors can work together .
In fact , financing was a big part of the COP announcements , as the host country of the UAE announced early in the event the creation of a new $30 billion fund called Altera , and Altera will focus on climate investments in emerging markets and developing economies , where the access to climate funding is limited so far .
Not to be outdone , Kamala Harris announced that the US would be pledging $3 billion towards the Green Climate Fund as a different vehicle to help emerging economies . The World Bank estimates that the climate transition will require $2.4 trillion in annual capital , so more initiatives like Altera and the Green Climate Fund are going to be needed going forward .
And while the financing and startup innovation is welcome , other announcements focused on the scaling and growing of existing solutions as well . Mckinsey estimates that 90% of our needed greenhouse gas abatements can be accomplished today using proven technologies .
We just need to scale those efforts better , which led to commitments such as the tripling of renewable energy that I mentioned earlier . And , for their part , 50 major oil and gas companies , including Exxon and Saudi Aramco , pledged to reduce their methane intensity by 80% to 90% by 2030 .
More than 200 major companies attended the COP this year , building upon corporate leadership in transitioning to renewable energy , driving GHG emissions out of their value chain and decarbonizing their business .
A consortium of these companies , including IKEA , Coca-Cola , Nestle , DHL and others , were vocal in their advocating for a phase out of fossil fuels without the reliance upon carbon capture and storage technologies .
There's no doubt that the difficult compromises that arise from the COP negotiations can make it feel as though the world is moving too slowly to address our urgent climate crisis . But just looking at the geopolitical challenges misses a whole other area of COP , where the energy enthusiasm has remained strong .
Every year , More capital , both financial and intellectual , is flowing into this space than ever before . The COP delegates have set the vision and commitment for carbon reductions , while our public and private community is innovating the solutions required to get us there . I'm Paul Schuster , and this has been your 8 Minute .