The United States has joined other countries in signing the United Nations (UN) climate deal to confirm a commitment to “transitioning away from fossil fuels.”
Led by Democrat President Joe Biden’s unregulated “Climate Czar” John Kerry, the U.S. signed the pledge at the end of the UN’s COP28 climate summit, according to The New York Times.
Kerry and representatives from nearly 200 other countries signed the agreement.
The pledge calls for the world to pursue “green energy” alternatives while reducing fossil fuel production and use.
An agreement about the future use of fossil fuels was a highly contentious issue over the course of the conference.
Representatives from some countries, including Kerry, wanted the language to go further and explicitly call for a complete fossil fuel “phaseout.”
The United Nations was also demanding member states commit to a complete “phaseout,” as Slay News reported.
Numerous European and island countries pushed for the more ambitious version of the agreement.
However, states like Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, and India lobbied hard against any potential “phaseout” language, according to the NYT.
The agreement stands as one of the major developments of COP28, which also saw developed countries, including the U.S., pledge hundreds of millions of dollars combined to a de facto international “climate reparations” fund.
The agreement is designed to accelerate the green energy transition in the coming years in a “just, orderly and equitable manner.”
In order to meet the “Net Zero” goals of the World Economic Forum (WEF), countries agreed to stop emitting carbon dioxide into the atmosphere altogether by 2050, according to the NYT.
The pact also calls on countries to triple the installation of green energy by 2030 and to significantly reduce methane emissions in the near term.
To reduce methane emissions, countries are committing to drastically reducing meat consumption among their populations.
“I am in awe of the spirit of cooperation that has brought everybody together,” Kerry said of the agreement, according to Reuters.
It is unclear whether the deal’s signatories will actually follow through with the agreement’s stipulations, according to the NYT. Similar deals reached at past UN climate summits have not been followed; for example, in 2021, countries reached an agreement to “phase down” reliance on coal-fired power plants, but global coal demand is expected to reach record levels in 2023.
However, the largest polluter in the world, China, didn’t sign the deal.
China produces more emissions from fossil fuels than the rest of the top 5 most polluting nations combined.
In fact, China has significantly increased coal-fired electricity output this year and plans to continue increasing its use of fossil fuels over the next few years.
The agreement “really only has two goals: allow Joe Biden to continue his war on American energy and ensure these elitists have something to do before next year’s COP29 exclusive junket,” Daniel Turner, founder and director of Power The Future, said of the deal.
