UN Climate Talks Faces Crisis over Fossil Fuel Backlash
The United Nations (UN) climate talks in Dubai could be in jeopardy after some nations reacted furiously to a draft deal on fossil fuels they call “weak”.
The draft removed language included in a previous text suggesting that fossil fuels could be “phased out”.
All 198 countries at the summit must agree or there is no deal.
Humans burning fossil fuels is driving global warming, risking millions of lives, but governments have never agreed on how or when to stop using them.
A representative for the European Union called the draft “unacceptable” and said the bloc could walk away.
Countries on the frontline of climate change – places where sea-level rises are already destroying homes and storms are killing people – condemned the draft deal.
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The latest text did include a promise to treble renewable energy capacity by 2030, a pledge signed earlier in the talks by more than 100 nations.
The draft appears to fall short of the standard for success laid out earlier on Monday by UN Secretary-General António Guterres.
The talks are officially supposed to finish today but could overrun as nations argue over the final deal.
