The United Arab Emirates, host of the COP28 climate summit, said on Tuesday it would seek consensus on a new draft deal after widespread criticism of language on fossil fuels.
Majid Al Suwaidi, director general of COP28, downplayed attacks on the text released on Monday, saying Emirati presenters were testing countries' “red lines” and working on a different draft.
“We need to work on how we can incorporate their views into the text in a way that everyone can enjoy and that we can make progress towards the goals” of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius , he told reporters.
“I think what really happened with our text was that we had honest, practical and pragmatic conversations with it about where the red lines really were,” he said.
'It's about reaching consensus.'
One protester condemns the use of fossil fuels during COP28
Under the rules of the UN Climate Treaty, agreements require consensus from all participants – almost 200 countries.
Saudi Arabia has led the way against calls backed by vulnerable countries and Western powers to phase out oil, gas and coal, the biggest culprit in the planet's climate crisis.
“We have known for a long time that the language around fossil fuels is complicated,” he said.
“There are people who want a gradual reduction, there are people who want a gradual reduction. There are people who want different formulations,” he said.
“It's about reaching consensus, and we don't want one formulation to cause blockages in the process.”
Negotiators are already working past a deadline set by the Emirates to complete the work before the official conclusion of the 13-day conference on Tuesday at 11am (0700 GMT).
“We all want to finish on time, but we all want to achieve the most ambitious result. That is our only goal,” Suwaidi said.
Mr Kerry, who was confronted by climate activists as he left the meeting, described pursuing the 1.5C target as a “war of survival”.
The proposed agreement included a series of measures that countries “could” take to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050, but were not tied to
“I, like most of you here, refuse to participate in a charade” about not phasing out fossil fuels, he said.
Some Pacific island states argued that the language around the 1.5 degrees Celsius warming target was tantamount to a death sentence.
'For us this is a matter of survival. We cannot put loopholes in the future of our children,” said Seve Paeniu, head of the Tuvalu delegation, adding that the proposed text “does not even come close to delivering 1.5 as a north star.”
Cedric Schuster of Samoa, chairman of the Alliance of Small Island States, said its members felt their voices were not being heard.
“We will not sign our death certificate,” he said. 'We cannot agree to a text that does not make strong commitments to phasing out fossil fuels.
“Throughout this process, we have been asked what is at stake if these negotiations do not produce a strong outcome that keeps 1.5 alive. How can you not understand: it is our survival that is at stake?'
Zhao Yingmin, China's vice minister for ecology and environment, said at the meeting that “the draft fails to address the concerns of developing countries on a number of important issues” and in particular the idea that greenhouse gas emissions will be reduced by 2025 must reach its peak.
Despite the criticism and accusations, Saudi Arabia and other oil states remained steadfast in their approach to the deal.
The country's representative at the climate summit, Noura Alissa, said publicly that the deal “must work for everyone.”
“It has to be relevant, it has to make sense to accelerate action for every single country in this room, and not for some countries over others,” she added.
The talks are expected to end on Tuesday, when a revised text is expected to be presented, but many observers expect it to be overrun.