Climate draft does not call for ‘phase-out’ – DW – 12/13/2023

A draft UN climate deal has called for the world to transition away from fossil fuels, in a last-ditch bid to break a deadlock between nations seeking a phase-out from oil, gas and coal and Saudi-led crude producers.

Following all-night negotiations, the text proposed by the Emirati presidency of the COP28 summit in Dubai would, if approved, mark the first time that all fossil fuels are addressed in the 28-year history of international climate conferences.

The text calls for “transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems, in a just, orderly and equitable manner, accelerating action in this critical decade, so as to achieve net zero by 2050 in keeping with the science.“

COP28: Oil & gas lobby blamed for soft line on fossil fuels

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video

But the document does not mention the “phase-out” demanded by Western nations such as Germany and low-lying island states most vulnerable to rising seas and tropical storms.

The COP28 presidency scheduled a plenary session at 9:30am (0530 GMT) in the hope of the text receiving consensus approval from nearly 200 nations.

The UN climate change conference, or COP28, was set to wrap up on Tuesday, but hopes of ending the summit on time faded as negotiations dragged into the early morning hours.

A deadline set by the Emirati hosts of the talks passed Tuesday morning without a final agreement.

Meanwhile, the President of COP28, Majid al-Suwaidi, said they were working on a new draft.

The earlier 21-page draft agreement, unveiled Monday night, had drawn sharp criticism from the United States, the European Union, climate-vulnerable nations and environmental experts.

A draft of a potential climate deal outlined a range of strategies that countries could use to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but it omitted a key demand of many nations: the “phase out” of fossil fuels.

zc, mds/wd (Reuters, AFP, AP, dpa)