Draft climate deal a ‘monstrosity’ that falls far short of what’s needed, vulnerable countries say

A draft version of a potential climate agreement at the COP28 climate summit on Monday was described by vulnerable nations and advocates as a "nightmare" after the document offered only a range of options countries "could" take to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, rather than heeding demands to phase out fossil fuels like oil, gas and coal altogether.

The draft released Monday on what's known as the global stocktake — the part of talks that assesses where the world is at with its climate goals and how it can reach them — called for countries to reduce "consumption and production of fossil fuels, in a just, orderly and equitable manner.''

Small island nations, some of the most vulnerable places in a world of rising temperatures and seas, blasted the draft and were trying to decide their options.

Final decisions by COPs have to be made by consensus and objections can torpedo them. Activists said they feared that potential objections from fossil fuel-producing countries, such as Saudi Arabia, had watered down the text.

Anger grew as people had more time to read the document.

"What we have seen today is unacceptable,'' Marshall Islands chief delegate and natural resources minister Samuel Silk said. "We will not go silently to our watery graves. We will not accept an outcome that will lead to devastation for our country, and for millions if not billions of the most vulnerable people and communities.''

European climate commissioner Wopke Hoekstra called the text "disappointing.'' German climate envoy Jennifer Morgan said Europe is "extremely unified'' in opposing the COP presidency's text, calling it unacceptable.

"We're prepared to stay as long as it takes to get the course correction that the world needs,'' Morgan told The Associated Press.

No mention of oil, natural gas

The release triggered a frenzy of fine-tuning by government envoys and gimlet-eye analysis by advocacy groups, just hours before the planned late-morning finish to the talks on Tuesday — even though many observers expect the finale to run overtime, as is common at the annual UN talks.

Delegations are meant to be reaching a deal that's in line with capping warming at 1.5 C above pre-industrial times to stop the worst effects of climate change — devastating heat, droughts, storms, sea level rise and other extremes.

The 21-page draft document called for "phasing out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies that encourage wasteful consumption'' but fell fall short of a widespread push to phase out fossil fuels completely.

The words "oil" and "natural gas" did not appear in the document, and the word "coal" appeared only twice.

The draft also had a single mention of carbon capture, a technology touted by some to reduce emissions although it's untested at scale.

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Activists said the text was written by the COP28 presidency, run by an Emirati oil company CEO, and pounced on its perceived shortcomings.

The COP presidency, in a statement, countered that the text was a "huge step forward'' and was now "in the hands of the parties, who we trust to do what is best for humanity and the planet.''

COP28 President Sultan al-Jaber skipped a planned news conference and headed straight into a meeting with delegates just after 6:30 p.m. It was his second cancelled press briefing on Monday.

COP will be 'a failure' if draft passes: non-profit

"We have a text and we need to agree on the text,'' al-Jaber said. "The time for discussion is coming to an end and there's no time for hesitation. The time to decide is now.''

Critics said there was a lot to do.

"This text is a nightmare of weak proposals and internal contradictions,'' said Tom Evans of the European think-tank E3G. "The next 17 hours must see the champions of ambition rally hard.''

Jean Su from the Center for Biological Diversity said the text "moves disastrously backward from original language offering a phaseout of fossil fuels.''

"If this race-to-the-bottom monstrosity gets enshrined as the final word, this crucial COP will be a failure,'' Su said.

But Mohamed Adow of Power Shift Africa said the "text lays the ground for transformational change.''

"This is the first COP where the word fossil fuels are actually included in the draft decision. This is the beginning of the end of the fossil fuel era,'' he said.

Also on Monday, the latest draft on the Global Goal on Adaptation — the text on how countries, especially vulnerable ones, can adapt to weather extremes and climate harms — was released and similarly panned.

The adaptation is "utterly disappointing'' and "an injustice to communities on the frontline of the crisis,'' said Amy Giliam Thorp of Power Shift Africa.

"The text is even weaker, more vague in many areas, and lacking in ambition,'' she said. "A framework focused on action without concrete targets, especially to support developing countries, is pointless and toothless.''

On Monday morning, visibly tired and frustrated top UN officials urged COP28 talks to push harder for an end to fossil fuels, warning that time is running out for action.

"We can't keep kicking the can down the road,'' UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said. "We are out of road and almost out of time.''