COP28 Draft Agreement Removes Fossil Fuel Phase-Out

Climate activists say the 2023 UN Climate Conference is on “the verge of complete failure” after oil-producing nations secured the removal of language calling for a phase-out of fossil fuels from the summit’s draft agreement. 

COP28, held in Dubai and headed by Sultan al-Jaber — the CEO of the United Arab Emirates state-run energy company ADNOC — has already been criticized for overemphasizing the desires of fossil fuel economies and energy corporations rather than the need to address climate change. On Monday, the criticism reached a fever pitch after COP28’s leadership published a draft of the conference’s final resolution, which axed key language calling for a devolution, and ultimate phase out, of fossil fuels. The document now reads that nations “could” embrace options to reduce their consumption and production of non-renewable resources. 

The removal of language calling for a full phase-out directly contradicts the demands made by the European Union and a coalition of developing nations advocating for more aggressive measures to curb potentially catastrophic climate change. 

The international outrage has been full-throated. According to the BBC, sources indicate that the EU has now threatened to walk away from the agreement. France’s minister of energy transition, Agnes Pannier-Runacher, also expressed her displeasure with the draft.  “This text is insufficient. There are elements that are not acceptable as they are. It’s a disappointment,” she said. A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department said that the agreement’s language needed to be “substantially strengthened,” and the Alliance of Small Island States stated unequivocally that they would “not sign [their own] death certificate.”

Al Gore, former U.S. Vice President turned climate activist, wrote on X that “COP28 is now on the verge of complete failure. The world desperately needs to phase out fossil fuels as quickly as possible, but this obsequious draft reads as if OPEC dictated it word for word.” 

“It is deeply offensive to all who have taken this process seriously,” Gore added. “There are 24 hours left to show whose side the world is on: the side that wants to protect humanity’s future by kickstarting the orderly phase out of fossil fuels or the side of the petrostates and the leaders of the oil and gas companies,” Gore added. “The final text must include clear language on phasing out fossil fuels. Anything else is a massive step backwards.” 

Signs that the oil-dependent powers and their corporate allies would try and water down the agreement have been present throughout the conference. Last week, a Saudi government document obtained by Politico made references to the supposed environmental perils of embracing renewable energy sources.

According to data compiled by Kick Big Polluters Out (KBPO), a record number of 2,456 fossil fuel lobbyists attended COP28, outnumbering every country delegation save for Brazil, which will host the conference next year. Additionally, the number of oil and gas-affiliated industry officials present has quadrupled since 2022’s record-breaking COP27 conference. 

In November, Conference President Al-Jaber claimed that there “is no science out there, or no scenario out there, that says that the phase-out of fossil fuel is what’s going to achieve” the necessary reductions in carbon emissions to stave off catastrophic climate change. 

On Sunday, Gore directly criticized Al-Jaber’s involvement in the conference. “It’s not so much that it’s in a country that produces oil. It’s the appointment of the CEO of one of the biggest and least responsible oil companies on the planet to be the head of the conference,” Gore said. “And here’s the reason that’s a direct conflict of interests, Jake. He’s charged by the U.N. with the responsibility of guiding the world toward a sharp phasedown of these greenhouse gas emissions, which mainly come from burning fossil fuels.”

“But he’s charged by his sovereign, and the company that he heads with a massive expansion of fossil fuels. They have got a plan to expand production of both oil and gas by an enormous amount, starting the minute the gavel bangs to end this conference,” the former vice president added.

Climate activists say the 2023 UN Climate Conference is on “the verge of complete failure” after oil-producing nations secured the removal of language calling for a phase-out of fossil fuels from the summit’s draft agreement. 

COP28, held in Dubai and headed by Sultan al-Jaber — the CEO of the United Arab Emirates state-run energy company ADNOC — has already been criticized for overemphasizing the desires of fossil fuel economies and energy corporations rather than the need to address climate change. On Monday, the criticism reached a fever pitch after COP28’s leadership published a draft of the conference’s final resolution, which axed key language calling for a devolution, and ultimate phase out, of fossil fuels. The document now reads that nations “could” embrace options to reduce their consumption and production of non-renewable resources. 

The removal of language calling for a full phase-out directly contradicts the demands made by the European Union and a coalition of developing nations advocating for more aggressive measures to curb potentially catastrophic climate change. 

The international outrage has been full-throated. According to the BBC, sources indicate that the EU has now threatened to walk away from the agreement. France’s minister of energy transition, Agnes Pannier-Runacher, also expressed her displeasure with the draft.  “This text is insufficient. There are elements that are not acceptable as they are. It’s a disappointment,” she said. A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department said that the agreement’s language needed to be “substantially strengthened,” and the Alliance of Small Island States stated unequivocally that they would “not sign [their own] death certificate.”

Al Gore, former U.S. Vice President turned climate activist, wrote on X that “COP28 is now on the verge of complete failure. The world desperately needs to phase out fossil fuels as quickly as possible, but this obsequious draft reads as if OPEC dictated it word for word.” 

“It is deeply offensive to all who have taken this process seriously,” Gore added. “There are 24 hours left to show whose side the world is on: the side that wants to protect humanity’s future by kickstarting the orderly phase out of fossil fuels or the side of the petrostates and the leaders of the oil and gas companies,” Gore added. “The final text must include clear language on phasing out fossil fuels. Anything else is a massive step backwards.” 

Signs that the oil-dependent powers and their corporate allies would try and water down the agreement have been present throughout the conference. Last week, a Saudi government document obtained by Politico made references to the supposed environmental perils of embracing renewable energy sources.

According to data compiled by Kick Big Polluters Out (KBPO), a record number of 2,456 fossil fuel lobbyists attended COP28, outnumbering every country delegation save for Brazil, which will host the conference next year. Additionally, the number of oil and gas-affiliated industry officials present has quadrupled since 2022’s record-breaking COP27 conference. 

In November, Conference President Al-Jaber claimed that there “is no science out there, or no scenario out there, that says that the phase-out of fossil fuel is what’s going to achieve” the necessary reductions in carbon emissions to stave off catastrophic climate change. 

On Sunday, Gore directly criticized Al-Jaber’s involvement in the conference. “It’s not so much that it’s in a country that produces oil. It’s the appointment of the CEO of one of the biggest and least responsible oil companies on the planet to be the head of the conference,” Gore said. “And here’s the reason that’s a direct conflict of interests, Jake. He’s charged by the U.N. with the responsibility of guiding the world toward a sharp phasedown of these greenhouse gas emissions, which mainly come from burning fossil fuels.”

“But he’s charged by his sovereign, and the company that he heads with a massive expansion of fossil fuels. They have got a plan to expand production of both oil and gas by an enormous amount, starting the minute the gavel bangs to end this conference,” the former vice president added.