No commitment to fossil fuel 'phase down' during Cop27
Cop27 leaves oil and gas unscathed
Opposition from producer countries made a commitment to ‘phase down’ fossil fuels impossible
November’s Cop27 conference ended in disappointment for climate activists after two weeks of talks in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh failed to produce consensus on a timeline for ending the production of fossil fuels. Some countries, along with a huge array of NGOs, came to the summit hoping to arrive at a clear schedule for phasing out oil and gas production. Kausea Natano, prime minister of Tuvalu—a Pacific archipelago highly vulnerable to rising sea levels—hit the headlines with his call for a ‘fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty’. Advocates of such a treaty demand an immediate end to new oil and gas projects and call for existing production to decline “at a pace consistent with
Also in this section
10 November 2025
The Russian firm made a significant attempt to expand overseas over the past two decades but is now trying to divest its global operations
10 November 2025
OPEC+ has proven to be astute at bringing back oil production, but mysteries around Chinese buying, missing barrels and oil-on-water have left the group in wait-and-see mode
7 November 2025
The Russian company’s German assets are under Berlin’s management and are exempt from sanctions, for now, but a permanent solution still needs to be found
6 November 2025
After years of pursuing ideologically driven climate leadership, Western powers are now stepping back under mounting political pressure and rising populist opposition—prompting concern essential climate action could be sidelined
