FIVE KEY POINTS

A historic climate deal has been struck in Dubai after days of negotiations. Here are some of the highlights:

Ambitious targets

A commitment to make fossil fuels net zero by 2050 is far more ambitious than some have set themselves to date, including China (2060) and India (2070).

Fossil fuels will still be in use by the middle of the century, but should be net zero – meaning the amount of emissions produced should match what is taken out of the atmosphere.

Most transport should be electric or hydrogen, and most power should not come from oil, gas or coal.

The wording around fossil fuels

“Could” has been removed from the wording around fossil fuels, and the text now “calls on” countries to make the transition to renewables and draw down fossil fuels. Language such as “must” is almost unheard of in climate talks.

Methane targets

The language on methane – a highly damaging greenhouse gas – is pretty firm.

It calls on nations to accelerate and substantially reduce emissions, “including in particular methane emissions by 2030”.

Flexibility

The transition allows major oil and gas producers flexibility on the path they need to take to cut emissions.

Bloomberg reported that this was key to Saudi Arabia.

Weak on coal

The language on coal is weaker than expected, possibly to get China and India on board.

The deal has countries “accelerating efforts towards the phase down of unabated coal power”.

Coal producers such as Colombia, the world’s sixth largest exporter, have already committed to phasing out unabated coal production by 2030 and halting the opening of any new large-scale mines.