COP28: Stand off over future of fossil fuels pushes Dubai Summit into overtime

investmentweek.co.uk:

COP28 President Al-Jaber at last night's plenary | Credit: UNFCCC

Weary climate diplomats have geared up for another marathon day at the COP28 Climate Summit in Dubai today, after the latest draft of the key negotiating text was met with a torrent of criticism from countries yesterday (11 December) evening.

Officially, the UAE COP28 presidency has said it is still aiming to wrap up proceedings tonight with an ambitious new agreement, but with significant disagreements remaining over the future of fossil fuels and climate adaptation goals most observers expect the tense negotiations to rumble on well into Wednesday.

COP will be judged over decades rather than individual summits

The presidency and negotiating delegations were reportedly up until 4am this morning attempting to broker a compromise on the Global Stocktake text, and an accompanying deal on new climate adaptation goals.

Majid Al Suwaidi, director-general of COP28, told journalists this morning that the presidency remained optimistic an agreement could be reached today.

«We are focused on getting the most ambitious outcome possible in our COP presidency, we will do whatever is needed to make sure that we get that outcome today,» he said.

However, the key opposing factions at the Dubai Summit are yet to show any indication they are willing to compromise on they main demands.

The High Ambition Coalition of countries, which includes the EU and a host of climate vulnerable nations, said the current draft text was unacceptable, and hinted that it will not sign up to a deal if it fails to provide a clear signal that the fossil fuel era is coming to an end.

The group has secured significant support from the US, which has said it wants more ambitious language on the