By Sudarshan Varadhan, Kate Abnett and William James

 

BELEM, Brazil, Nov 21 (Reuters) - The COP30 climate summit was headed for a showdown on Friday over the future of fossil fuels after hosts Brazil dropped efforts to develop a global plan to shift away from oil, gas and coal from its proposed deal.

 

A draft text for a deal for this year's U.N. climate summit, released before dawn on Friday, contained no reference to fossil fuels, dropping entirely a range of options on the subject that had been included in an earlier version.

 

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The issue has been one of the most contentious at the two-week conference of nearly 200 governments in Brazil's Amazon city of Belem.

 

A group of more than 30 nations sent a letter to the COP30 presidency late on Thursday saying they could not accept a deal which failed to include a commitment to develop a roadmap to transition away from fossil fuels.

 

That has set the stage for a showdown in the final hours of the conference, which is scheduled to end at 1800 local time (2100 GMT). Previous COP summits have blown past their deadlines before eventually reaching a compromise.

 

"We are disappointed with the text currently on the table," EU climate commissioner Wopke Hoekstra said in a statement, adding it lacked ambition on action to cut emissions.

 

Countries are set to air their thoughts on the draft in a public plenary session starting around 1300 GMT. The deal text, which is still subject to further negotiation, would need approval by consensus in order to be adopted.

 

 

 

 

For days, nations have wrangled over the future of fossil fuels, whose burning emits greenhouse gases that are by far the largest contributor to global warming.

 

Dozens of nations have been pushing hard for a "roadmap" laying out how countries should follow through with a promise made at COP28 two years ago to move away from fossil fuels.

 

Saudi Arabia and other oil-producing nations are opposing this, negotiators at COP30 told Reuters. The Saudi government communications office did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

 

A negotiator from one developing country told Reuters its government did not oppose a fossil fuel phase-out and was open to negotiating, but was concerned the draft text offered little to address their concerns on other issues including finance.

 

But a Hungarian company says it has found a way to turn it into road-ready concrete, replacing much of the stone normally used in the mix.  - (ANA) -

 

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