COP2, IEA convene global energy decision makers to accelerate orderly energy transition

The dialogues will prepare the ground for specific commitments and calls to action at the World Climate Action Summit being held at COP28

Panaji: The COP28 UAE Presidency and the International Energy Agency (IEA) have convened the first in a landmark series of high-level dialogues through to COP28 around building a 1.5C degree-aligned energy transition.

The initiative is being conducted in conjunction with the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and will be supported by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), a release stated.

---

The dialogues are intended to build consensus on 1.5C degree-compatible energy transition pathways and the enabling conditions needed to achieve them, as well as momentum around the target energy outcomes for COP28.

The meetings are being co-chaired by COP28 President-Designate Sultan Al Jaber and Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the IEA.

The official said that the aim of the meeting is to engage public- and private-sector decision-makers in the energy industry to produce a holistic, global view of the energy system.

The dialogues will prepare the ground for specific commitments and calls to action at the World Climate Action Summit being held at COP28.

A COP28 President-Designate Dr. Sultan Al Jaber said that COP28 represents a milestone opportunity for the world to come together, unite around decisive action, and drive progress towards keeping the goals of then Paris Agreement alive and 1.5C within reach. This will require a collective effort and so we need everyone at the table – and that includes the energy industry.

“Building a new energy system can only happen at speed and scale with united action on the supply and the demand side together. These high-level dialogues are bringing public- and private-sector energy decision makers together under the framework of a COP for the first time,” he said.

IEA Executive Director Dr. Fatih Birol said that the IEA has put forward a comprehensive energy package that can help make COP28 a success.

“This includes tripling global renewables capacity, doubling energy efficiency progress, slashing emissions from the oil and gas industry, boosting clean energy finance for developing economies, redirecting fossil fuel investment into clean energy, and putting fossil fuel demand into sharp decline,” Birol said.

Francesco La Camera, Director General of IRENA, said: “Our collective promise was to secure a climate-safe existence for current and future generations.” “We simply cannot continue with incremental changes. There is no time for a new energy system to evolve gradually over centuries, as was the case for the fossil fuel-based system,” Camera said.