In COP26, for the first time, countries ended their oil and gas production

For the first time, COP deals with fossil fuels, the primary cause of climate change. With coal, first, since last week, About twenty countries have pledged to get rid of this polluting energy in the 2030s and 2040s.. But in oil and gas, one step is still rarely taken.

Thursday, November 11 at 26 p.m.^e At the United Nations Climate Conference (COP26) in Glasgow (Scotland), eight countries pledged to no longer offer new concessions and licenses for oil and gas production and exploration – with immediate effect. The Bound Oil and Gas Alliance (BOCA), founded by Costa Rica and Denmark, Europe’s largest oil producers, also unites France, Greenland, Ireland, Wales, Quebec and Sweden.

They also decided to set a date for the end of exploitation and exploration – for existing licenses – for hydrocarbons in their region. This date is yet to be determined “Paris Agreement”, Which aims to control global warming up to 1.5 ° C if possible compared to pre-industrial times. Some members of the BOGA have already set an exit date for hydrocarbons in France in 2040 or in Denmark in 2050.

“A radical change”

New Zealand and California have also joined the alliance as co-members “We have taken important concrete steps to reduce oil and gas production.”, Said in a statement. New Zealand decided in 2018 to ban all new marine oil exploration permits, while California, a major oil producer, will ban hydraulic breakdown (extraction of oil and gas from shale) by 2024 and stop hydrocarbon exploitation by 2045.

The alliance does not include major oil and gas producers such as the United States, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Iraq or Norway. “But this is a very important alliance, because if the end of coal is already in the minds of the people, on the contrary, this is the first time we have asked the question of the end of oil and gas, which will lead to enormous challenges, especially in transportation.”, Judge Lola Vallejo, Director of Climate at the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations. “This is a turning point as climate negotiations have ignored the issue of fossil fuels for thirty years.”, Confirms Romain Iulalan, campaign manager at the voluntary charity Oil Change International.

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