No Agreement on Fossil Fuel Phase-Out in Draft COP28 Deal, But Spotlight on Unabated Coal

After bringing fossil fuels under the global spotlight for the first time, COP28 has fallen short of delivering an urgent call for its phase-out or phase-down in the penultimate draft text of the first-ever Global Stocktake released late on Monday. The issue has rocked the climate talks at the UN climate summit with nearly half of the countries demanding a strong language on fossil fuels.

The Small Island Nations and Least Developed Countries (LDCs) expressed their concerns over the new draft, terming it as a ‘watered-down’ version of the previous one released on Friday. This is the fourth time the draft has been revised. A deal on the phase-out of all fossil fuels (abated/unabated) was expected to be a key outcome of the summit, which comes at a crucial time when the world has already warmed by over 1.1℃.

“The language on fossil fuels is weak and completely insufficient. It does not refer to a phase-out at all. Any text that compromises 1.5℃ will be rejected,” said Cedric Schuster, Environment Minister of Samoa, Chair of the Alliance of Small Island States.