The world's first Conference on Transitioning Away From Fossil Fuels concluded last week and was not only a big success by itself, but hopefully a first step into a new era of global progress on climate change.
From the video above:
"This was a breakthrough in international climate diplomacy, but how successful it was and how history will look back on its being historic, will determine on the next few chapters of the story. If all the COPs so far were Chapter One of how the world brought itself to net zero, then this might be the start of Chapter Two."
The countries in attendance represent roughly half of the world's GDP and a third of its energy usage, together making up a "coalition of the willing" who were frustrated at the slow progress at COP.
Rather than using the consensus rules used at COP--which unfortunately lent themselves to being hijacked by countries with pro-oil agendas--this conference was focused on developing science-based roadmaps for various countries to successfully transition away from fossil fuel use.
No fighting over basic issues like whether climate change is worth addressing or if we need to cut our fossil fuel use--just small, closed-door meetings of policymakers, experts, and stakeholders working on figuring out solutions.
You can read more about this historic event in this article from Carbon Brief:
Countries attending a first-of-its-kind summit have walked away with plans to develop national roadmaps away...
