More than 60 countries have said they support an agreement initiated by the EU, the US and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). 

The agreement aims to triple the use of renewable energy this decade.

This is according to two officials with knowledge of the matter, according to the Reuters news agency on Thursday.

The countries are seeking support for the agreement ahead of the UN climate summit COP28, which will take place in Dubai from November 30 to December 12.

The aim is for the agreement to be included in the summit’s final agreement text. Countries such as Nigeria, South Africa, Vietnam, Australia, Japan, Canada, Peru, Chile, Zambia and Barbados have signed up, sources have told Reuters.

The news agency has seen a draft of the text, which also commits signatories to doubling the world’s annual rate of energy efficiency improvement to four percent annually each year until 2030.

The draft also suggests that the increased use of renewable energy must be in tandem with ”phasing out coal power”, including stopping the financing of new coal-fired power plants.

One of the sources told Reuters that negotiations with China and India to get the two countries to sign up are ”quite advanced”. Neither of the two countries have currently said they will join.

According to climate scientists, both measures mentioned in the agreement are vital if the world is to avoid even worse climate change.

The sources told Reuters that early support for the summit agenda will build momentum and set a positive mood for days of intense negotiations at the summit.

The nearly 200 countries that have signed up to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) meet annually for a climate meeting - better known as the COP. It is short for ”conference of the parties” - a conference of the parties.

This year, number 28 - hence the name COP28 - will be held from November 30 to December 12 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.