New draft document has shown that European Union countries are on course to approve a diplomatic stance on Monday that would see them call for a global phase-out of fossil fuels as they and other countries prepare for this year’s U.N. climate change talks in the United Arab Emirates.
Foreign ministers from member countries will meet on Monday to adopt the new EU conclusions on climate diplomacy as they seek to anchor their priorities ahead of COP28.
According to a draft of the conclusions seen by reporters on Friday, the EU aims to commit to phasing out all CO2-emitting fossil fuels, including oil and gas, as it acknowledged the commitment made by about 200 countries at previous U.N. climate talks to phase down coal-fueled energy and considers this new agreement a step further.
“The shift towards a climate neutral economy will require the global phase-out of unabated fossil fuels, as defined by the IPCC,” the draft said, referring to the U.N. climate science panel whose scientists have said the world must substantially reduce fossil fuel energy use this decade to avoid the most devastating impacts of climate change.
“The EU will systematically promote and call for a global move towards energy systems free of unabated fossil fuels well ahead of 2050,” the draft document said.
Governments and other stakeholders had gone to last year’s U.N. climate summit hoping to get a deal on phasing down fossil fuel energy but were left bitterly disappointed as some rooted for it. More than 80 governments, including EU countries, supported the proposal made by India on the subject, but Saudi Arabia and other oil- and gas-rich countries rejected it and it was not included in the final draft of the conference.
The latest EU draft included stronger wording than a previous version which had not explicitly endorsed a “phase-out” and EU diplomats said Germany and Denmark had pushed for more ambitious wording.
However, the draft is still being negotiated, and some diplomats said it could be delayed beyond next week due to some countries disapproval with other elements of the text, which covers topics including promoting renewable energy and EU efforts to stop using Russian gas.
Story was adapted from Reuters
