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
13 March 2026
Brussels is again weighing a cap on gas prices amid the Hormuz crisis, but the measure could backfire by deterring the LNG cargoes Europe urgently needs
12 March 2026
Emergency oil stocks provide a last line of defence to oil market shocks, so the IEA’s unprecedented 400m bl release represents something of a double-edged sword
12 March 2026
LPG could rapidly expand access to clean cooking across Africa and prevent hundreds of thousands of deaths from indoor air pollution each year, but infrastructure shortages and regulatory barriers are slowing investment and market growth
11 March 2026
Missiles over Dubai and disruption in Hormuz are testing the emirate’s reputation—and shaking the energy hub at the centre of the Gulf economy
