Fossil Fuel 'Phase-Out' Cut From COP28 Draft Treaty

In the final 24 hours before Cop28 is due to officially end, the reference to a phase-out” of fossil fuels has been removed from the latest draft of the final agreement.

- LOUISE BOYLE, STUTI MISHRA

Calling time on fossil fuels has emerged as the central battle of the Dubai negotiations.

The European Union and vulnerable, developing countries have called for fossil fuels to be phased out while oil-rich nations, including Saudi Arabia and Russia, have strongly opposed it. “Phase-out” or “phase-down” of fossil fuels had been included as an option in an earlier draft agreement but has now been deleted.

Countries including the United States, Germany and France all said that the draft did not go far enough. The US State Department called for the text to be “substantially strengthened”. EU climate commissioner Wopke Hoekstra called the text “disappointing”, while Germany’s foreign minister Annalena Baerbock called key elements “unacceptable”.

“The need for urgency to replace and reduce fossil fuels in the power sector in this critical decade is completely missing,” she said.