Countries at the COP28 climate conference are considering calling for a formal phase-out of fossil fuels as part of the U.N. summit's final deal to tackle global warming, a draft negotiating text seen on Tuesday shows.
The proposal is certain to spark heated debate among the nearly 200 countries attending the two-week conference in Dubai, with Western governments pushing for the language to be included, while oil and gas producers are keen to leave it out.
Research published on Tuesday showed global carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels are set to hit a record high this year, fuelling concerns among scientists that efforts to combat climate change are not enough to avert its worst impacts.
The draft of what could be the final agreement from COP28, released by the U.N. climate body on Tuesday, proposed "an orderly and just phase-out of fossil fuels" which if adopted would mark the first global deal to end the oil age.
On the COP28 main stage, the CEOs of several major energy firms argued in favour of oil and gas, highlighting their progress in areas such as cutting the greenhouse gas methane.
"We are big guys and we can do big things. We can deliver results and we will have to report them very soon," said Jean Paul Prates, CEO of Brazil's state-run oil company Petrobras. "The energy transition will only be valid if it's a fair transition," he added.
TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanne said a transition away from oil and gas would take a long time "so we need absolutely to produce oil and gas in a different way by slashing down emissions. And we can do it, we have the technology".
"Of course it has a cost," he said, "but it's part of our licence to operate, I would say, for the future."
At least 2,400 fossil fuel lobbyists registered for this year's summit, an analysis of U.N. registration data published by Kick Big Polluters Out showed.
The lobbyists outnumbered the 1,609 delegates from the 10 most climate vulnerable countries combined, the international coalition of climate activist groups said.
Climate activists staged several small protests against the presence of the fossil fuel industry at the sprawling conference grounds. The Marshall Islands, meanwhile, unveiled a national plan to adapt to rising sea levels, a recognition that the impacts of warming are already hitting its shores.
"While we hope for a world where the world fulfils the promise of the Paris Agreement to contain climate change, as an extremely climate vulnerable country we need to be realistic and honest about the difficult path ahead," said Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner, the country's climate envoy.
