COP28 Could End Up 'Toothless' As Key Commitments Pushed Down The Road In Draft Resolution

Although COP28 was scheduled to conclude Tuesday in Dubai, representatives are reportedly still discussing the text of the final agreement.

On Monday, a draft of the "global stockade" -- in which countries assess global progress on climate targets and address means of improving it -- was released to the public. The draft text notably omits language to "phase-out" the use of fossil fuels, and appears to have made emissions reductions measures voluntary, rather than compulsory.

The draft of the stockade suggests eight voluntary options that countries "could" take to reduce carbon emissions, "including 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."

"The success of the COP will be for the COP to reach a consensus on the need to phase out fossil fuels," UN Secretary-General Antonio Gutteres told reporters on Monday before the draft text was made public.

Even though the final text may not go as far as some climate advocates may have hoped, COP28 still marks the first UN climate change summit to directly advocate for the reduction of all fossil fuels, rather than focusing exclusively on coal.

The publicly released draft framework contains no set target for methane emissions reductions, no specific renewable energy investment target, and no defined timeline for phasing down the use of coal.

"A framework focused on action without concrete targets, especially to support developing countries, is pointless and toothless," Amy Gillian Thorp, policy advisor for Power Shift Africa, a climate-oriented think tank, told PBS Monday.

"In order to prevent COP28 from being the most embarrassing and dismal failure in 28 years of international climate negotiations, the final text must include clear language on phasing out fossil fuels. Anything else is a massive step backwards from where the world needs to be to truly address the climate crisis and make sure the 1.5°C goal doesn't die in Dubai," former US Vice President and climate activist Al Gore said Monday on X.

"What we have seen today is unacceptable...we will not go silently to our watery graves," Samuel Silk, national resources minister for the Marshall Islands said on Monday.

Representatives from every major oil and gas company, as well as OPEC, were present at COP28 negotiations, a source of sustained criticism for the host country United Arab Emirates, the world's seventh-largest oil producer.

Also on Monday: US-based oil and gas firm Occidental Petroleum announced a deal to acquire CrownRock, valued at $12 billion, expanding its footprint in Texas' Permian basin by the equivalent of 170,000 barrels per day in oil production. This marks the third significant consolidation in late 2023 by US oil and gas majors -- after ExxonMobil's $59.5 billion acquisition of Pioneer Natural Resources and Chevron's $53 billion acquisition of Hess in October -- a trend experts expect to boost US oil production and apply further downward pressure on global oil prices.