In a first, U.S. signals support for U.N. agreement to phase down use of fossil fuels
During U.N. climate change negotiations in Egypt on Wednesday, the United States signaled its support for the adoption of language calling for phasing down the use of fossil fuels — a major symbolic shift for the world’s largest oil and gas producer.
The possible amendment to an agreement between 190 nations that is under discussion is symbolic and would not have any enforcement mechanism. Instead, much like how the existing climate agreement, the Glasgow Climate Pact, calls for participating countries to pursue a goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, the goal of phasing down fossil fuel use will be aspirational.
Climate change activists who have been campaigning for the climate change conference, known as COP27, to incorporate a goal of moving away from fossil fuel use greeted the news as a triumph. At previous climate change conferences, the United States and other major producers of oil and gas had refused to sign on to similar language.
“It’s a major breakthrough for the United States to back a global phase down of fossil fuels after nearly three decades with no mention of them in these climate agreements,” said Jean Su, energy justice program director at the Center for Biological Diversity, in a statement emailed to Yahoo News.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/in-a-first-us-signals-support-for-un-agreement-to-phase-down-use-of-fossil-fuels-000125333.html