Guardian - Cop28: Australia, US and UK say they won't sign agreement that would be 'death certificate' for small islands
Cop28: Australia, US and UK say they wont sign agreement that would be death certificate for small islands
Australian climate change minister, Chris Bowen, says umbrella group of countries is united in saying draft agreement is too weak
Adam Morton in Dubai
@adamlmorton
Mon 11 Dec 2023 16.43 EST
A group of countries including Australia, the US, the UK, Canada and Japan have said they will not be a co-signatory to death certificates for small island states, and have demanded a stronger agreement at the
Cop28 summit to deal with fossil fuels and address the climate crisis.
A statement delivered by the Australian climate change minister,
Chris Bowen, on behalf of whats known as the umbrella group of countries, came as tensions flared at the United Arab Emirates over the text of a draft deal proposed by the summit presidency.
Released early on Monday evening local time, the draft avoided highly contentious calls for a phase-out or phase-down of fossil fuels in an attempt to find consensus from nearly 200 countries that have been meeting in Dubai for nearly a fortnight.
Some observers welcomed elements of the draft, including the first mention in a Cop text of reducing fossil fuel production, but others were scathing,
describing it as grossly insufficient and incoherent.