Some say the deal is historic, others that it is weak. We look closely at the text for the truth of the matter
The decision text from Cop28 has been greeted as “historic”, for being the first ever call by nations for a “transition away” from fossil fuels, and as “weak and ineffectual” and containing a “litany of loopholes” for the fossil fuel industry. An examination of the text helps to explain this contradiction.
The federal government faced fierce external pressure to abandon or weaken its plan to cap oil and gas sector emissions from provincial governments and industry lobby groups in the lead-up to its announcement last week.
Good morning Maple readers. On Tuesday, Canada voted for a resolution at the UN General Assembly to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, a move that human rights activists said shows the Trudeau government is finally listening to the demands of Palestine solidarity protests.
As we have reported, these protests have frequently been met unkindly by government officials and law enforcement services.
The absence of a ‘phase-out’ let petrostates off the hook, but there are other ways to end the era of coal, oil and gas
Petrostates fought fiercely against the call from 130 nations at Cop28 for a fossil fuel phase-out. That is because they are engaged in a colossal fossil fuel phase-up, already working on double the extraction that the planet can cope with.
Developing countries call agreement to transition away from fossil fuels ‘unfair’ and ‘inequitable’
As the leaders of the developed world hailed the Cop28 agreement to “transition away” from fossil fuels as historic, Indigenous people, frontline communities and climate justice groups rebuked the deal as unfair, inequitable and business as usual.
