The Know Daily - Wednesday 13 December 2023

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The River Peffery in Scotland is set to benefit from a £1.2 million restoration project, which will include tree planting and the installation of leaky dams. The ambitious scheme aims to bring about “increased habitat for wildlife” and “reduce downstream flood risk”, said the Inverness-based Ross-shire Journal.

🤝 A “historic” agreement at COP28 

Earlier this morning, delegates at the UN climate summit in Dubai approved a final agreement which, for the first time, calls on countries to “transition away” from the use of fossil fuels. 

What’s the story?
After nearly two weeks of what Reuters described as “hard-fought negotiations”, representatives from nearly 200 countries agreed to begin reducing global consumption of fossil fuels to “avert the worst impacts of climate change”. 

The final text does not go so far as to call for a “phase out” of fossil fuels, which more than 100 countries had called for but the world’s biggest oil-producing countries had opposed. Instead, it calls for a “transitioning away” from fossil fuels in a “just, orderly and equitable manner”. 

“That transition would be in a way that gets the world to net zero greenhouse gas emissions in 2050 and follows the dictates of climate science,” reported the Associated Press. 

Why is this so significant? 
This is the first time that nations have agreed on a “concerted move away” from oil, gas and coal, said the BBC. Delegates reportedly “erupted into applause, with hugs and huge smiles” when the deal was announced.

COP28 president Sultan Al Jaber - who is also head of the UAE’s state oil company - described the deal as a “historic package to accelerate climate action”.

Is everyone in agreement?
No. Critics of the deal have said it does not go nearly far enough. The Alliance of Small Island States described the agreement as “incremental and not transformational”, and said it contained a “litany of loopholes”. 

Euronews said that while the agreement was a “significant step” towards changing how the world is powered, it was “filled with questions about how soon and who will pay for the transition”.