By The Financial District
Dec 14, 20231 min
The UN Cop28 summit is on the "verge of complete failure" after the United Arab Emirates (UAE) abandoned its commitment to phase out fossil fuels, as reported by James Crisp for The Telegraph.
In an earlier version of the agreement, signatories were expected to commit to phasing out fossil fuels entirely.
The new, weakened draft of the agreement, released on the eve of the final day of the climate change conference, now only pledges that the production and consumption of polluting fuels "could" be reduced, rather than completely stopped, to reach net zero by 2050.
In an earlier version of the agreement, signatories were expected to commit to phasing out fossil fuels entirely. However, the UAE faced pressure from other oil-producing nations, led by Saudi Arabia.
The European Union (EU) threatened to walk away from the talks unless the draft was altered, and the US cautioned that the language regarding fossil fuels would need to be "substantially strengthened."
With almost 200 countries represented at the 13 days of international talks in Dubai, unanimous agreement is required for a potentially historic deal. Failure to reach consensus would result in the collapse of the agreement.
This turn of events has sparked fury among negotiators and campaigners at the summit, where there were initial hopes of striking a landmark climate deal to rival the vow made in Paris in 2015 to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees.