COP28 talks in Dubai overrun host-set deadline without fossil fuel deal
World
UAE says seeking 'consensus' with next climate deal draft
DUBAI (AFP) - UN climate talks in Dubai on Tuesday ran past a host-imposed deadline for a deal as at-risk nations voiced fury over a proposed compromise that stops short of phasing out fossil fuels.
COP28 presidency wants 'historic' mention on future of fossil fuels in text
Cop28 Director General Majid Al Suwaidi said on Tuesday the summit's presidency wanted to include a "historic" mention on the future of fossil fuels in the next draft text for a possible deal, but it was up to the almost 200 nations at the talks.
"At this COP we are trying to do something that has never been done before, something historic ... Part of this is to include fossil fuels in the text. If we can, that would be historic," he told reporters. UAE says seeking 'consensus' with next climate deal draft
The United Arab Emirates, host of the COP28 climate summit, said Tuesday it would seek consensus with a new draft deal after wide criticism of language on fossil fuels.
"We need to work on how we put their views into the text in a way that everybody can be happy with," said Majid Al Suwaidi, COP28 director general. "The point is to get a consensus." COP28 countries set to continue negotiations beyond host-set deadline
After another late night of haggling, there was no sign that the COP28 talks on a draft agreement to reduce fossil fuel use were anywhere near completion, with negotiators waiting for a fresh text after wide criticism of a draft released Monday.
A deadline set by the Emirati hosts of the Dubai climate summit passed at 11am local time on Tuesday without a deal, with negotiators expected to work overtime after fury on a proposal that stops short of phasing out fossil fuels.
"We have time and we are prepared to stay a little longer," German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said.
The team from the Marshall Islands – a low laying Pacific archipelago, threatened with submersion – vowed to stay until the end. It’s negotiator, John Silk, said that his country "did not come here to sign our death warrant".
Campaigners had hoped the COP28 summit – set in a glitzy metropolis built on petrodollars – would take the historic step of calling for the first time for a global phase-out of fossil fuels, which account for three-quarters of greenhouse gas emissions blamed for the planetary crisis.
But the latest draft of the 21-page text put forward by COP28 President Sultan Al Jaber – himself head of the UAE's national oil company – does not go so far as to demand action on fossil fuels, only presenting measures that nations "could" take.
