Denmark and Costa Rica jointly announced that they are launching an alliance of nations committed to setting a firm date to completely phase out use and production of fossil fuels. The two countries hope to present the initiative, tentatively dubbed the Beyond Oil & Gas Alliance (BOGA), at the upcoming UN climate summit [9] in Glasgow, Scotland. Nearly 60 countries have made some sort of net zero emissions pledge, but only a handful of those have actually set a target in law [10] or enacted bans [11] on new fossil fuel exploration and production. An International Energy Agency report [12] released earlier this year found that new fossil fuel exploration needs to halt by 2022 [13] in order to keep warming within the limits set by the 2015 Paris Agreement [14]. "We are in a paradoxical situation right now where many countries have pledged to become carbon neutral but are actually still planning to produce oil and gas after that date," Danish Minister of Climate & Energy Dan Jorgensen told Reuters [17].
To join BOGA, countries would have to set firm targets for ending current oil and gas production and banning new exploration. Countries could get into a "second-tier" level if they make steps such as limiting fossil fuel financing or reforming subsidies for fossil fuel companies.
Although Costa Rica is not a major producer fossil fuels itself, it has long been recognized for leading the way [18] in phasing out production and setting aggressive decarbonization targets. Denmark—one of the largest oil producers in the EU—last year enacted a ban on fossil fuel exploration and extraction [19]. (Gizmodo [20], Aug. 26)
