COP28 – Dec. 14

COP28 talks finally concluded with a commitment to transitioning away from fossil fuels – a global first. While the outcome falls short of the specific fossil fuel “phase out” most countries wanted, the so-called “UAE Consensus” does break new ground: No previous COP text has mentioned moving away from oil and gas.

In Asia, countries such as Singapore and Japan rolled out more initiatives to support efforts against climate change at home and abroad, while South Korea introduced a ‘carbon free’ campaign, which was received with criticism for suggesting that “renewables alone cannot save the world.”

• Transition away from fossil fuels: The COP28 climate talks ended in a historic deal that commits the world to transitioning away from all fossil fuels for the first time. However, the deal was criticised by 39 small-island nations that raised concerns that the deal was pushed through without their support. Critics also raise concerns that the deal was still severely lacking when it comes to addressing developing nations’ climate concerns. Moreover, Asia faces many obstacles to its clean energy transition, with countries such as China, India and Indonesia failing to provide clear timelines for ending coal usage.

• Renewable energy pledge: On December 2, 118 countries signed a renewable energy pledge to triple the world’s green energy capacity to 11,000 GW by 2030. While Australia and Japan supported the pledge, China, India, and Indonesia were not among countries that signed it. Moreover, the federal Coalition in Australia declared at the summit that it would back the global pledge if the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, becomes prime minister, but would not support Australia tripling its renewable energy.

• Milestone achievement for Southeast Asia: The Indonesian Government, the Asian Development Bank, and utility provider PLN have agreed to the early retirement of a 660-megawatt Cirebon-1 coal plant in Java by end 2035, almost seven years earlier than scheduled.

• Singapore leads in efforts and commitments: One big step forward came from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), in the form of guidance on transition finance – a Singapore-Asia taxonomy for financial institutions. MAS followed this announcement with the launch of an international coalition – called the Transition Credits Coalition, or Traction – to develop a new class of carbon credits aimed at accelerating the closure of coal-fired power plants. Another Singapore initiative is a blended-finance platform seeking to mobilise at least US$5 billion for green and transition investments in Asia. Additionally, the city state has said it will not claim from the fund that nations have adopted at the COP28 climate summit, nor is it likely to contribute to it. Singapore will instead support fellow countries from the Alliance of Small Island States (Aosis) and help them receive money from the fund.

• Japan to support developing nations but continues to face criticism: Japan’s Environment Minister Ito Shintaro announced support measures for developing countries to help them reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. Japan will help developing nations in Asia draw up emissions reduction targets by using data from a new greenhouse gas observation satellite it plans to launch next year. A public-private partnership was also announced for the development of early warning systems, mainly in the Asia-Pacific. The partnership aims to help developing nations deal with disasters related to climate change. Despite these measures, environmental groups have criticized Japan for not doing enough to address climate change. Japan is also the only G7 member not participating in the Powering Past Coal Alliance, which aims for a transition from coal-fired power generation.

• South Korea pushes a ‘carbon-free plan’: South Korea is rolling out a new “carbon-free” campaign that it said would reposition Seoul as a global leader in decarbonization. The country’s “carbon-free energy” plan promotes an array of energy sources that help reduce greenhouse gas emissions — such as solar and wind — but states that renewables alone cannot save the world. But climate experts and advocates say the plan, which promotes some fossil fuel power generation, merely masks South Korea’s dependence on nonrenewable energy sources.

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