India to ‘phase down’ on all fossil fuels

Raising concerns: A man collects coal from a roadside in Madhya Pradesh. India’s push at the COP27 climate summit is seen as an effort to muddy the waters in reducing fossil fuel use globally. — AFP

NEW DELHI: India is leading a push for the COP27 climate summit to conclude with a decision on phasing down all fossil fuels, a move that would expand the focus from just coal, but is likely to raise strong concerns from oil and gas-reliant countries.

Indian negotiators formally called on the Egyptian presidency of climate talks for the expanded language to be included in the cover text, a political statement of how countries will seek to tackle the climate crisis, according to people familiar with the matter.