GLASGOW, SCOTLAND — In a serious announcement at United Nations local weather talks on Thursday, 20 international locations mentioned they’d cease funding fossil gas growth overseas and as an alternative plow cash into clear vitality.

The transfer might constrain dangerous new fossil gas tasks, which is nice as a result of the environment is operating out of capability for extra carbon dioxide. But whereas the information is undoubtedly good, particulars nonetheless must be labored out—and extra international locations and banks have to hop on board to present the world a combating shot at stopping world warming above the 1.5-degree-Celsius (2.7-degree-Fahrenheit) goal.

The group of nations contains finance heavy-hitters just like the U.S., UK, and Canada in addition to smaller gamers like Mali and Costa Rica. An evaluation by Oil Change International signifies that the 20 international locations plus 4 different funding establishments who signed on might shift $15 billion yearly from funding fossil fuels to scrub vitality tasks.

Winding down new fossil gas manufacturing as quickly as attainable is without doubt one of the keys to assembly the world’s local weather objectives. A report launched earlier this yr by the International Energy Agency discovered that new exploration must cease subsequent yr. The 20 international locations have mentioned they’ll do exactly that so far as funding tasks go. In that gentle, this can be a main local weather win.

“The signatories of today’s statement are doing what’s most logical in a climate emergency: stop adding fuel to the fire and shift dirty finance to climate action,” Laurie van der Burg, the worldwide public finance campaigns co-manager at Oil Change International, mentioned in an emailed assertion.

The announcement provides to different efforts to handle fossil gas extraction introduced at COP26 together with phasing out coal in some countries and addressing methane emissions in others.

“Given how important public finance is for de-risking and crowding in private capital for fossil fuel projects, especially in emerging markets, it’s quite a big deal,” Justin Guay, the director for world local weather technique on the Sunrise Project, told E&E News.

As your pesky native local weather reporter, I additionally should comply with up this little bit of optimistic information with a number of key caveats. First and foremost, the settlement doesn’t pull funding from tasks already within the pipeline (local weather joke, please snicker). Between 2018 and 2020, Oil Change International additionally discovered, the G20 kicked an estimated $188 billion to fossil gas tasks in different international locations. That’s quite a lot of very current extraction occurring.

The lack of financing overseas additionally doesn’t imply an absence of financing at dwelling. The U.S. and Canada, for instance, are main oil and gasoline producers. Without a plan to wind down manufacturing at dwelling, the pledge to finish financing for fossil fuels overseas is a bit like promising you gained’t lend your neighbor cash for cigarettes whilst you maintain smoking a pack a day.

Some of the largest people who smoke—errr, fossil gas funders—on the block additionally didn’t signal on. Those embrace Japan, Korea, and China, that are the largest fossil gas backers within the G20, in accordance with Oil Change International. Together, they account for greater than $29 billion in annual fossil gas growth overseas. That’s a serious lifeline for fossil gas builders.

We additionally nonetheless want extra particulars on the pledge to finish funding, together with how precisely the 20 international locations and banks outline fossil gas funding. Could a mission that commits to utilizing carbon seize, a largely ineffective means to make soiled vitality appear extra climate-friendly, be thought-about for funding? If so, that might point out the settlement has no tooth.

Lastly, the world’s personal banks and funding companies additionally have to signal on. So far, the splashiest supply from the titans of personal funding on the UN talks got here courtesy of Mark Carney, former head of the Bank of England, who mentioned 450 companies with $130 trillion in belongings had been committing to aligning their investments with internet zero. While that’s some huge cash, most of it’s locked up in issues like mortgages, so the pot for climate-focused investments is smaller than it appears. And it appears ripe for greenwashing.

“We’ve seen this act before,” Rachel Rose Jackson, the director of local weather analysis and coverage at Corporate Accountability, mentioned in an emailed assertion. “Corporations and financial enablers that knowingly fueled the climate crisis make big promises and pledge big numbers. Then they fail to deliver, while causing tremendous harm. It’s impossible to take seriously any pledge from the financiers of the climate crisis. These actors need to tell us exactly how their pledges are going to keep temperature rise to below 1.5º Celsius.”

The new pledge from the U.S. and 19 different international locations and 4 growth banks to not fund fossil gas growth appears, not less than, like a great place to start out.