The Guardian view on Cop28: a phase-out of fossil fuels is the only decision that makes sense

Cop28’s president, Sultan Al Jaber, recently asserted that ‘no science’ indicates that ‘a phase-out of fossil fuel is what’s going to achieve 1.5C’. Photograph: François Nel/Getty Images

It was never really in doubt. But the first week of Cop28, which ended with a rest day on Thursday, made one crucial fact impossible to ignore: the fossil fuel industry is not planning to go quietly. Far more of its lobbyists are in the UAE than have attended UN climate talks before. One analysis counted 2,456 of them – nearly four times the number registered last year in Egypt.

The battle is hotting up over what next week’s report on progress towards the Paris goals, known as the global stocktake, will say. Fossil fuel interests – both corporate and national – are pushing hard to avoid references to the phase-out that would signal the end of their business model and vast profits. They don’t want an energy transition that leads to their demise.