According to Al Gore, COP28 is on the “verge of complete failure” as officials cannot agree on the language used in a draft statement.

“COP28 is now 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. It is even worse than many had feared,” Gore wrote.

Many developed and island nations fumed over a draft final statement on Monday that did not include language for a “phase-out of fossil fuels.”

“The draft was put forward by the COP28 President, Sultan Al Jaber, who is also the chief executive of national oil company ADNOC,” Oil Price reports.

Via Oil Price:

This draft says that the Conference of the Parties “calls upon Parties to take actions that could include”, among other things, “Reducing both consumption and production of fossil fuels, in a just, orderly and equitable manner so as to achieve net zero by, before, or around 2050 in keeping with the science.”

The draft also includes the texts, “Rapidly phasing down unabated coal and limitations on permitting new and unabated coal power generation” and “Phasing out of inefficient fossil fuel subsidies that encourage wasteful consumption and do not address energy poverty or just transitions, as soon as possible.”

Chances of a compromise looked slim early on Tuesday after the U.S., the EU, the UK, Australia, and a group of island nations most severely hit by climate change said they refuse to sign a document that doesn’t mention a phase-out of fossil fuels. Delegates from small island nations said they would not endorse an agreement that would be a “death warrant” for the countries worst hit by climate change.

X users reacted to Gore’s cries about COP28 being on the “verge of complete failure”:

“What a shame. Let us know when you have the viable alternatives on a global scale to replace all of these things you will be phasing out. Meanwhile – we will keep everyone warm, clothed and fed and we will move them around,” the US Gas & Oil Association wrote.

“We will keeping making 1000s of consumer products possible. While we are at it, we will make shipping those goods all over the world possible too. In our spare time, we will focus a bit on making fertilizers to grow the crops to feed the next group of COP29 attendees and the diesel and jet fuel to get them there. Sounds like a good plan don’t you think?”

Sultan Al Jaber, president of COP28, sparked controversy at the conference for saying there’s “no science” indicating a need to phase out fossil fuels to restrict so-called global heating.

“No Science” Showing A Need To Phase Out Fossil Fuels, Climate Change Conference Leader Says

Al Jaber reportedly said a ‘phase-out’ of coal, oil, and natural gas would not be sustainable “unless you want to take the world back into caves.”

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