The contours of a deal to end fossil fuel use remain unclear six days before the end of COP28, where UAE President Sultan Al Jaber announced late on Wednesday that he was taking back control of the talks, calling for compromises, AFP reported. .

After a tumultuous start thanks to a historic deal on a climate damage fund for vulnerable countries, the first week of talks in Dubai ended on Wednesday night with an uncertain status quo.

Ahead of the traditional rest day on Thursday between the two weeks of the conference, the phase-out of oil, gas and coal is firmly included in the draft agreement, to the satisfaction of the island nations, Africa, the European Union and the states. United.

But this is balanced against the radical option of removing any mention of fossil fuels, reflecting the impasse at this stage between China and Arab countries led by Saudi Arabia.

Late Wednesday night, negotiators from the 195 signatories of the Paris Agreement agreed to a two-day deadlock after intense debate … but without slamming doors or raising alarms in the corridors of Dubai’s giant exhibition center.

UAE President-elect Sultan Al Jaber then addressed the plenary to invite countries to step out of their “comfort zones and find common ground” to reach a “very ambitious” final agreement by Tuesday.

He called on negotiators to come up with “proposals that build bridges between fossil fuels, renewables and energy efficiency, backed by science.”

“We need results to guide our actions from this decade onward,” he insisted, using language favored by Europeans who are very attached to short-term goals.

According to the IPCC, emissions must be reduced by 43% by 2030 compared to 2019 if we are to stay within 1.5°C.