Fossil fuel cuts by 2050: The 31-word proposal shaping Cop28’s final hours – The National

Fossil fuel cuts by 2050: The 31-word proposal shaping Cop28’s final hours – The National

Live updates: Follow the latest news on Cop28Climate change talks in Dubai are focusing on a 31-word draft sentence that proposes a way forward on the contentious issues of fossil fuels.A new draft of the global stocktake – the key text being agreed to at Cop28 – suggests reducing fossil fuel use in what would be the first such commitment at a global level.The UAE’s Cop28 Presidency described the draft text as a “huge step forward” that reflects its ambitions for the summit.But negotiations are set to stretch into the summit’s final hours as several key players push for tougher language, such as a “phase-out” of fossil fuels that had been on the table in an earlier draft.The magic words in the draft are “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”.Breaking it down:Reducing consumption and production of fossil fuelsThis is a compromise, after early drafts of the stocktake showed countries were considering everything from a phase-out to no agreement at all.“Reducing” fossil fuel use, but not necessarily to zero, is somewhere in the middle.For many delegates,