In Dubai, frustration is mounting as a draft agreement for the U.N.’s COP28 climate summit so far omits the phasing out of fossil fuels, drawing widespread criticism from climate activists who’ve denounced the draft text as a death warrant for the planet.
The document released Monday instead calls for “reducing both consumption and production of fossil fuels.” Environmentalist and former U.S. Vice President Al Gore said on social media, “COP28 is now on the verge of complete failure.”
Meanwhile, a peaceful action broke out Monday as several activists gathered outside a meeting room in Dubai’s Expo City where COP28 President Sultan Al Jaber was expected to hold a news conference. Protesters held hands and formed a line demanding a fossil fuel phaseout.
Emma Buretta, a 17-year-old climate activist from the U.S., told reporters: “If we don’t get a phaseout in the text at this COP, then there’s a very high chance that we are going to exceed 1.5 degrees of warming, which will ensure a completely unlivable future for youth like me, for marginalized people, for Indigenous people, for people of color and for everyone.”
