After two weeks of lengthy, impassioned debate, delegates from nearly 200 countries signed on to a global agreement that for the first time includes the words "transitioning away from fossil fuels." The agreement came after the official end of the COP28 summit, the United Nations' annual climate gathering, this year in Dubai. As with last year, the delegates needed more than the officially allotted time to finish things off.

The target year is 2030, and some of the rest of the language is instructive. Nowhere is the word "phaseout," as had been insisted on by many people at the conference, touting recent news that global temperatures were trending higher and that the current year was the hottest on record. Instead, the tempo of the "transitioning away" will be "just, order and equitable." And for the first time, the final version of the final statement includes the words "fossil fuels."

The landmark agreement did include the significant commitment to stop adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere by 2050 and incorporated an earlier decision to triple the amount of renewable energy by the earlier 2030 target, which is just six years away.

What's next? Each country whose delegates attended must submit to the U.N., within two years, a detailed plan for that nation will work to help decrease the emission of greenhouse gases, with a deadline of decrease by 2035 as an added incentive. Recent scientist estimates are that the countries of the world must collectively cut emissions by 43 percent in order to meet the Paris Agreement target of limiting global warming to 1.5° Celsius.