At UN Climate Talks, No Consensus On What Consensus Is

COP, as the annual Conference of the Parties meetings are called, takes no votes and there is no requirement of unanimity (Credit: AFP)

The world's climate negotiators meeting in Dubai have spent sleepless nights in an elusive quest for consensus, but there is no consensus on what consensus means.

The United Arab Emirates, citing the need in the UN process for consensus, in a draft agreement for the COP28 summit stopped short of backing historic calls for a "phase-out" of fossil fuels.