New draft conclusions do not yet promise a breakthrough

COP28 President Sultan Al Jaber has just presented the preliminary conclusions of the COP28 climate summit (Monday, 11 December). The texts form the basis for the final round of negotiations, which the COP28 presidency has announced will be concluded tomorrow (Tuesday, 12 December). Bas Eickhout and Jutta Paulus, Greens/EFA members of the European Parliament delegation, are present at the World Climate Conference in Dubai.

Bas Eickhout, Greens/EFA member of the European Parliament delegation and Vice-President of the Greens/EFA group, comments:

"The European Union has come here with the clear commitment for the negotiations that this climate summit must become the moment when the world decides that the use of fossil fuels must end. Unfortunately, we still really see far too little of this in the text just presented. To maintain the positive momentum that surrounds the end of fossil fuels, the European Union must now bang its fists on the table and ensure that other countries also speak out clearly for this now."

Jutta Paulus, Greens/EFA member of the European Parliament delegation to COP28, comments:

"The new draft conclusions are far from the breakthrough we need. The COP28 Presidency must seize the opportunity to end the age of fossil fuels. Sultan Al Jaber keeps communicating that he wants a historical outcome by ending the COP on time which he certainly will not achieve by presenting this inacceptable text. The EU must stay the course and not leave any back doors open for fossil fuels when calling for an end to coal, oil and gas. In all likelihood, the next 48 hours will decide whether the climate summit in Dubai will end in a fossil fuel fiasco or go down in history as the beginning of the age of renewables."

Greens/EFA demands
Plenary debate on COP28 results Thursday, 14 December, follow live from 9:00AM on