The Global Landscape Forum’s Think Landscape blog interviewed Sandrine Dixson-Declève about her takeaways from the COP28 negotiations:
Clearly, “transitioning away” is not the ideal outcome. We recognize and I recognize that it’s a consensus deal and that actually, Sultan Al Jaber was very close to not getting a deal at all – in particular with Saudi Arabia, China and a few others blocking any deal.
On one hand, I’m disappointed and feeling that we’ve let down the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), who made it very clear that this comes nowhere near what they were expecting – not only in terms of this particular language, but also the Loss and Damage Fund.
In their final statements, some countries, including AOSIS, as well as Bolivia and others, really wanted to have a reference to common but differentiated responsibilities so that the Global North would assume its responsibility – not only for emissions but also for finance.
So, it’s not a perfect deal. But on the other hand, seeing how difficult it was to get any deal at all, we are relieved. I do believe that this is a start. This has brought the fossil fuel phaseout conversation to the forefront, and now we really need to unpack what “abated” and “unabated” mean, and the role of carbon capture and storage.
It’s left a lot to be desired, but considering what we were up against, it’s probably decent, although not perfect.
