Reacción a "Reactions: COP28 approves "transition away from fossil fuels" in Global Stocktake"

The resolution adopted by COP28 (Global Stocktake) is replete with references to the Paris Agreement (mentioned 101 times) and the IPCC report (mentioned 15 times), but is unlikely to help meet the goal of reducing emissions to safe levels as envisaged in those documents. In the midst of all this 'acknowledgement,' 'invitation,' or 'thanks' it is easy to overlook that this document is the framework for action for the development of national climate change plans (NDCs). The actions called for in these plans, detailed in point 28 of the resolution, demonstrate the difficulty of conceiving of a future without fossil fuels, which is a real tragedy. Space is left even for coal, for which a 'phase-down' is simply projected, and the next point recognises the role of 'transition fuels' (better known as 'natural gas') in the transition to clean energy. It is incomprehensible: how can the use of fossil fuels help us move away from fossil fuels?  

What is most worrying about the resolution is its emphasis on technological solutions that will sooner or later rescue us from disaster because it entrenches a technocratic way of thinking that distances us from the need for a negotiated transition (which is a condition for it to be just). The transition is social and political, and there are no magic solutions that will get us out of this quagmire. Although technologies for the removal and development of greenhouse gas emissions have advanced over the last decade, their large-scale deployment is still an achievement that we will only see in the distant future. These technologies present their own challenges: high energy and land requirements, unknown environmental and social impacts, social and planning conflicts, etc.  

The text proposes an orderly transition, which is also just and equitable, led by national governments. But there are other ways of imagining this transition: a transition in which what counts is not only what happens at COP28 and what the big oil companies do, but a transition led by the people, in their lives and in their relations with governments and the environment around us. A people-led transition is a transition where sustainability is demanded at all levels, from local to international politics; where there is active participation in local services (as in energy communities) and services respond to local needs; where workers refuse to sustain a declining fossil fuel industry. Beyond international politics, the clean energy transition benefits us all and holds us all accountable".