--- title: COP28 Draft Deal Floats Fossil Fuel Cuts for First Time description: If the language stays, it would mark the first time in nearly 30 years that a call to cut fossil fuels made it into a UN climate summit deal. canonical: https://time.com/6344685/cop28-draft-climate-deal-fossil-fuel-cuts/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2023-12-11T14:50:04.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-19T07:29:09.108Z article:section: Climate og:title: COP28 Draft Climate Deal Floats Fossil Fuel Cuts for First Time og:description: The blueprint’s language on fossil fuels “lays the ground for transformational change.” og:url: https://time.com/6344685/cop28-draft-climate-deal-fossil-fuel-cuts/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt27e2b141e234756f/698a431ab3fce306910cb1ba/cop28-climate-summit-draft-deal-fossil-fuel-phase-out.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: COP28 UNFCCC Climate Conference: Opening Day og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: COP28 Draft Climate Deal Floats Fossil Fuel Cuts for First Time twitter:description: The blueprint’s language on fossil fuels “lays the ground for transformational change.” twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt27e2b141e234756f/698a431ab3fce306910cb1ba/cop28-climate-summit-draft-deal-fossil-fuel-phase-out.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # COP28 Draft Climate Deal Floats Fossil Fuel Cuts for First Time > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=347a8ce7-79f1-40ac-a522-68bc8fb2f37f&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: COP28 Ends With Historic Deal to ‘Transition Away’ From Planet-Warming Fossil Fuels [Watch (HLS stream): COP28 Ends With Historic Deal to ‘Transition Away’ From Planet-Warming Fossil Fuels](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/cC0oYtNt.m3u8) (3:11)  _Published 2023-12-13. The COP28 climate talks in Dubai ended in a historic deal that committed the world to a transition away from all fossil fuels for the first time._ by [John Ainger and Jennifer A. Dlouhy / Bloomberg](https://time.com/author/bloomberg/) ## John Ainger and Jennifer A. Dlouhy / Bloomberg Contributor Dec 11, 2023 2:50 PM UTC The COP28 climate talks in Dubai ended in a historic deal that committed the world to a transition away from all fossil fuels for the first time. by [John Ainger and Jennifer A. Dlouhy / Bloomberg](https://time.com/author/bloomberg/) ## John Ainger and Jennifer A. Dlouhy / Bloomberg Contributor Dec 11, 2023 2:50 PM UTC The United Arab Emirates, presiding over this year’s[ COP28 climate talks](https://time.com/6340761/top-three-issues-at-cop28/), presented a draft deal that called on countries to cut their consumption and production of fossil fuels, trying to end an impasse between developed countries and petrostates with less than 24 hours until the summit is due to end. If the language stays, it would mark the first time in nearly three decades that a call to reduce [fossil fuels](https://time.com/6343575/al-gore-al-jaber-fossil-fuels-cop28-interview/) made it into the final deal at a United Nations climate summit. The 21-page plan is meant to bring projections of global temperature increases to below 1.5C, and calls on the reduction of fossil fuels to be “just” and “orderly.” The text also says that coal should be “rapidly” phased down, with limitations on new power generation. The proclamation is set to be the defining issue of the COP28 summit being held in Dubai, with some oil producers, including Saudi Arabia, fiercely resisting any move to chart an end to the use of polluting energy sources. Mohamed Adow, the director of Power Shift Africa, said the blueprint’s language on fossil fuels “lays the ground for transformational change.” “This is the first COP where the word ‘fossil fuels’ are actually included in the draft decision,” Adow said. “This is the beginning of the end of the fossil fuel era.” Talks are scheduled to conclude Tuesday, bringing to a close a two-week summit that’s focused on whether countries would be willing to shift away from the oil, gas and coal that have powered the global economy for more than a century. Nations will now provide the UAE with their thoughts on the latest text, which also commits countries to tripling renewable energy capacity and doubling the rate of energy efficiency this decade. Sultan Al Jaber, the COP28 president who’s been accused of conflicts of interest because he’s also head of Abu Dhai National Oil Co., said on Sunday that he was working on getting groundbreaking language of fossil fuels into the final text. “The COP28 presidency has been clear from the beginning about our ambitions,” a spokesperson said after the draft’s release on Monday. “This text reflects those ambitions and is a huge step forward. Now it is in the hands of the parties, who we trust to do what is best for humanity and the planet.” **Read more:** [_COP28 Is a Business Bonanza. Should It Be?_](https://time.com/6344322/the-role-of-business-at-cop28/) The EU, US and small island states have been among those pushing for a phase out of fossil fuels, albeit with various differences over issues such as the role carbon capture and storage should play. The draft text contains references to accelerating the deployment of carbon capture and storage, a controversial technology that has yet to be proven at scale. Countries including Brazil want to see developed countries first start the shift away from fossil fuels, while members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, including Saudi Arabia and Iraq, have opposed any mention of a phase down or phase out. “We are a country that produces oil, but we also have a very strong issue with our forests — we face an inflection point,” said Marina Silva, Brazil’s environment minister. “We clearly assume it is necessary to face the problem of fossil fuels and we are looking for a solution matches the 1.5C challenge.” Under the draft, countries would also gree for the first time to go beyond carbon dioxide in targeting methane and other potent greenhouse gases with substantial reductions by 2030\. That follows a voluntary pledge for a 30% global reduction in methane first introduced by the US and EU two years ago. The move is significant because methane, fluorinated gases and nitrous oxide are far more powerful at warming the earth’s temperature — and slashing them now is seen as vital to keeping short-term temperature targets within reach. ## Following the Science Sharp observers noted that commitments in the draft text are preceded by the phrase: “take actions that could include.” That qualifier “makes all the listed actions optional for nations,” said Rachel Cleetus, policy director at the Union of Concerned Scientists. The text is “extremely disappointing, concerning, and nowhere close to the level of ambition people around the world deserve,” Cleetus said. The UAE achieved a landmark deal on the first day to get a fund up and running to help developing countries pay for the losses and damages caused by increasingly extreme weather. The country and developed nations have since committed over half a billion dollars to the fund, with a further $80 billion of financial pledges being made during the summit. ## Transcript [00:00] For the very first time in a cop fossil fuels have been on the [00:03] table as a major part of our negotiations and the decision [00:09] that came out of this clearly and braces transitioning [00:15] away from fossil fuels and energy systems. [00:19] So as to achieve NetZero by 2050 that is a clear and bigger [00:24] was message on one of the most complicated issues that we face [00:28] and the first and easiest thing that countries need to do to make [00:32] this commitment real. [00:34] Is the stop building new unabated call and we will continue [00:40] to fight for that. [00:41] We supported the call for Clear language about the needs a largely [00:45] phased out, the fossil fuels. [00:50] Given the makeup of this 195 Nation editie. [00:54] It's pretty clear that was more than a steep climb and you know, [01:00] we hardly expected that we're just going to turn around do that [01:05] immediately, but they did sign on and they are transitioning [01:10] are people from the age of six countries who aren't even able [01:16] to get in in time for the gavel and the before people even allowed [01:20] to put up their flies and stand if you want to text it was [01:22] gambled and so there's a little bit of a confusion of what this [01:25] process is and if it's fair and it's been looking for or transparent. [01:30] I think the UNS triplesafe process is broke and I think we saw [01:34] so many lobbyists here and obviously while we are upset at the [01:39] the the results, there's people here who are celebrating [01:43] somebody here has had a successful coffee. [01:45] That's a 2000 lobbyists and you know, [01:47] we're giving crumbs to celebrate but SMS to celebrate flowers [01:51] that would lie in our Graves. [01:52] You know, how do we celebrate that there has been some improvement [01:56] from the extremely low body dropped text that was given to us [01:59] earlier this week. [02:00] But the improvements have been incremental not transformative. [02:03] There was a reference to transitioning away from fossil fuels [02:06] and that's that signals a transition. [02:09] But the time for signaling is long past and [02:14] We were told this was going to be a historic Coffee & the outcome [02:17] is far from it. [02:18] It's lukewarm at best. [02:19] It's not enough to acknowledge the science and what's needed [02:23] to stay below 1.5 without putting in place the concrete [02:26] action. So I'm disappointed in the outcome of 28 so long because [02:33] obviously the the latest version of the text. [02:35] The one that has just been approved is better than the one we [02:38] had yesterday. But the one we had yesterday was so bad that [02:41] it's not you know, it is easy to do better. [02:43] Basically, there's been some improvement and he's a mention [02:47] of transitioning away from us if you will not be happy because [02:52] more than 100 States will actually biking the human photosynthesize [02:58] out which is much stronger than conditioning away. [03:01] So it is weaker, but it is the first time in the club's history [03:05] that there is a call to transition away from old fossil fuels ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6344685/cop28-draft-climate-deal-fossil-fuel-cuts/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6344685/cop28-draft-climate-deal-fossil-fuel-cuts/"},"headline":"COP28 Draft Climate Deal Floats Fossil Fuel Cuts for First Time","datePublished":"2023-12-11T14:50:04.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-19T07:29:09.108Z","description":"If the language stays, it would mark the first time in nearly 30 years that a call to cut fossil fuels made it into a UN climate summit deal.","url":"https://time.com/6344685/cop28-draft-climate-deal-fossil-fuel-cuts/","keywords":["climate change","wire","healthscienceclimate","bloomberg wire"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt27e2b141e234756f/698a431ab3fce306910cb1ba/cop28-climate-summit-draft-deal-fossil-fuel-phase-out.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"John Ainger and Jennifer A. 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