COP28 stretches into overtime amid disagreements about fossil fuels 

The global climate summit has stretched into overtime as negotiators have yet to reach an agreement on its outcome.

Fossil fuels — the main driver of climate change — have been a particularly thorny issue at the summit, as some push for an agreement calling for a “phase out” or eventual end to fossil fuel use, while others say that’s going too far. 

Past agreements have called for a “phase down” of coal when its emissions are not prevented through carbon-capture technology.

The latest draft, released Monday, called for “reducing” consumption and production of fossil fuels, while a previous draft floated a “phase out.”

Climate envoy John Kerry, who is negotiating on behalf of the U.S., tweeted that language around fossil fuels needs to be “substantially strengthened.” He also said that a section dealing with climate finance “contains inaccuracies that must be fixed.”

A bloc of countries that includes India and China, however, opposes language calling for a  “phaseout” or “phase-down” of specific energy sources, according to Politico, which listened into closed-door talks through an unsanctioned feed. 

Meanwhile, a lead climate finance negotiator for the European Union, Eamon Ryan, has reportedly said the EU could walk away from the talks if the text is not strengthened. 

Any agreement would need to be adopted by consensus. 

In a Monday tweet, former Vice President Al Gore described the conference as being “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,” he added, referring to a group of oil-exporting nations. 

The conference was originally slated to have closed on Tuesday, but it’s now unclear how long it could run. Global climate summits often run over, with last year’s COP27 conference also stretching into overtime.