The COP28 climate negotiations set countries for a final summit face-off over whether to reach a global agreement to phase out fossil fuels.
U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres sought to encourage a consensus, saying a central benchmark of success for COP28 would be whether it brings a deal to reduce coal, oil and gas use fast enough to avert disastrous climate change.
“That doesn’t mean that all countries must phase out fossil fuels at the same time,” he told reporters at the Dubai summit, which is scheduled to end on Tuesday but could go on longer if negotiations drag on.
Guterres echoed a call from many developing nations that have said any COP28 deal to overhaul the world’s energy system must be matched with sufficient financial support to help them do this.
A coalition of more than 100 countries including oil and gas producers the United States, Canada and Norway, as well as the European Union and climate-vulnerable island nations, want an agreement that includes language to “phase out” fossil fuels, a feat not achieved in 30 years of the U.N. summits.
The emissions from burning fossil fuels are by far the main driver of climate change.
Canadian Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault told Reuters a deal on phasing out fossil fuels was being opposed by OPEC, the club of oil-producing countries.
“They’re opposed to the fossil fuel language, they’re trying to block negotiations on just about everything else. And that’s very unhelpful. And for parts of the world, life-threatening,” Guilbeault said.
“We’re the fourth largest oil and gas producer. We get it. It’s complicated. It’s unnerving. It creates uncertainty in parts of our country. But it’s not a reason not to do it.”
Negotiators and observers inside the COP28 talks told Reuters that Saudi Arabia, de facto leader of the OPEC oil producers’ group, was among the main opponents of a deal to phase out fossil fuels.
Saudi Arabia’s government did not respond to a request for comment.
Deals at U.N. climate summits must be passed by consensus among the nearly 200 countries present. That high bar aims to establish a consensus on the world’s next steps to tackle climate change, which individual countries should then make happen through their national policies and investments.
The United Arab Emirates, itself a major oil producer, has urged countries to compromise to find a deal that includes fossil fuels.
Despite the rapid growth of renewable energy, today, fossil fuels produce around 80% of the world’s energy.
