Cop28: EU threatens to walk from climate summit over 'get out of jail card for fossil fuel industry'

Environment Minister Eamon Ryan, who is one of the EU's chief negotiators, said the bloc could not accept any text that does not include a projected end for fossil fuels.

"It’s clear we can’t accept the text... we can’t have a get out of jail card for fossil fuel industry,” he said, as the frustrations of the EU, US, and smaller vulnerable nations came to the fore on the penultimate day of the summit in Dubai.

He said that if the text was not improved dramatically it could be grounds for walking away from it completely. However, Mr Ryan said that would not be a good or desirable outcome from this Cop "when the future of civilisation is in the balance".

Former US vice president and climate campaigner Al Gore claimed "Cop28 is on the verge of complete failure" as fossil fuel-producing nations such as Saudi Arabia dug in on their continued use.

The draft text that is being presented to countries instead refers to "reducing both consumption and production of fossil fuels". That language is far too weak, according to EU negotiators like Mr Ryan and environmental and humanitarian groups.

Cop28 has been beset by controversy over its president's ties to fossil fuel. President of Cop28 Sultan Ahmed al-Jaber has allegedly been planning secret deals to vastly expand oil and gas production at the event, a direct contradiction of its aim, which is for world leaders and scientists to agree a path to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Mr al-Jaber, who is head of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc), the 12th largest oil-producing firm in the world, told chair of the Elders Mary Robinson in a contentious online exchange before Cop28 began that there is "no science" behind the aim of reducing fossil fuels if global warming is to be kept to 1.5C compared to the 1850-1900 age, in direct contradiction to the almost unanimous consensus of global scientists.

As the clock runs down on Cop28, which is due to finish on Tuesday, Mr al-Jaber insisted a deal could be struck and that the draft text that has angered many countries is actually a "huge step forward".

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres returned to Dubai on Monday in an attempt to cajole countries resisting the phase out of fossil fuels. He said: "It is essential that the Global Stocktake recognises the need to phase out all fossil fuels on a timeframe consistent with the 1.5C limit."

The Global Stocktake is an examination of all the climate plans for countries across the world. It is expected to show that 1.5C is way off trajectory and that a massive ramping up of decarbonisation needs to take place between now and 2030.

According to the Paris Agreement of 2015, reached at Cop21, a 1.5C rise in temperatures was set as the limit for the rise globally compared to 1850-1900, in order to stave off the very worst fall-out from climate change.

ActionAid Ireland chief executive Karol Balfe said the draft text is akin to "a paper fan being waved at a burning house".

"Instead of taking us closer to a fossil-free future, this draft takes a giant step backwards. It’s staggeringly empty of any new commitments. Instead of deciding to take action, it simply ‘recognises the need’ to phase down unabated coal and scale up renewable energy, leaving out any reference to other fossil fuels such as oil and gas.

"After all the momentum and hope that has been building here, it’s horrible. It’s devastating," she said.