Optimism ebbs at COP28 as fault lines on contentious issues widen

The excitement about bigticket announcements in the initial days of the United Nations Climate Summit (COP28) ebbed as the focus begins to shift this week on negotiations over contentious issues in the Global Stocktake and other legally binding texts.

- Jayashree Nandi

As the summit enters the second week, fault lines began to widen among country groups on the phase out of fossil fuels, with larger focus on coal, observers aware of the discussions said on Wednesday, predicting a tough round of negotiations before the conference is due to end on December 12.

While countries like Saudi Arabia, China and India are likely to oppose language on phasing out fossil fuels and stopping new coal projects, the US and the EU are pushing for strong language on these along with the inclusion of carbon capture and storage technologies, observers in Dubai said.

Negotiators have said that there are far too many issues on which countries have expressed divergent views.

For India, the main focus is to safeguard the principles of the Paris Agreement in the final text, officials said, adding that the country's position on certain issues cannot be compromised on.