A row has erupted at the COP29 climate talks as leading nations say a draft deal risks going back on a historic agreement to cut the use of planet-warming fossil fuels.
Ed Milband, the UK’s energy minister, said: “To stand up is to step back and if that happens, the world will judge us very harshly.”
The UK, EU, New Zealand and Ireland said the proposed deal was ‘unacceptable’.
Developing countries said they were unhappy that a pot of money had not been agreed to help them tackle climate change.
Nearly 200 countries are meeting in Baku, Azerbaijan to decide on next steps to combat climate change.
The dispute comes as UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned countries that “failure is not an option”.
At the center of the discussion is the trade-off between more money pledges by developed countries and global commitments to reduce fossil fuel use.
Some developing countries and oil-rich countries are reluctant to take drastic action to reduce fossil fuels because it could threaten their economic growth.
In an open meeting of all nations, EU Commissioner for Climate Action Wopke Hoekstra described the draft agreement as “unbalanced, unworkable and extraordinary”.
US climate envoy John Podesta said: “We are shocked that there is no progress … on what we agreed to in Dubai last year.”
“We will have failed in our duty and millions of people are already feeling the effects of extreme weather,” he added.
Samoan Minister Cedric Schuster, who represents small island nations on the frontline of climate change, said:
“We cannot afford to undermine the progress achieved in Dubai less than a year ago”.
At last year’s COP28 climate talks, nations agreed to “transition away from fossil fuels.”
“If we don’t achieve ambition on mitigation, everything else fails,” Ireland’s environment minister, Eamonn Ryan, told reporters.
Diplomats angry with COP29 host Azerbaijan They say the draft agreement reflects the views of a group of Arab countries known as the Like-minded Group, which includes Saudi Arabia, China, India and Bolivia.
The Saudis have suggested that the proposed fossil fuel deal was just an option rather than specific guidelines for countries.
Secretary Ryan said the text of the new proposed agreement reflects this view.
“We all know there’s been a push back. There’s been an effort to redefine what we agreed to last year as a menu, and actually take back the language and take back the pledge. be taken, and it must be stopped in the interest of the Arab group as well.”
But developing countries have made it clear that they believe rich countries are also backing away from previous commitments. In 2015, as part of the historic Paris Agreement, developed countries pledged money to help poor countries transition away from fossil fuels and prepare for extreme weather.
The proposed agreement on new climate finance – published on Thursday morning – currently contains no figures.
Bolivia’s chief negotiator, Diego Pacheco, said: “It’s not even a joke, it’s a violation of the demands of the Global South.
“This is a finance COP and it needs political will to provide finance and anything less is a travesty. […] The Paris Agreement and millions of people around the world,” he said
The G77+China group, which represents developing countries, wants $1.3tn (£1.03tn) by 2030. This can be from governments and private sources such as banks or businesses.
But he says that no specific number has been mentioned here.
“I’ve heard figures in corridors, but nothing official,” said Evans Njuwa, chair of the Least Developed Countries Group.
Developing countries also want data on how much money will come from grants, such as aid budgets, and how much will come from private loans.
They fear that more loans will add to their existing debt burden.
