Paris,

The United Nations has published its largest-ever scientific assessment of the state of the global environment, but member states failed to agree a key political summary after a dispute over references to fossil fuels.

The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) said it was the first time countries had been unable to approve a negotiated “summary for policymakers” to accompany its flagship Global Environment Outlook report, produced roughly every five years by hundreds of scientists.

“It’s regrettable,” UNEP executive director Inger Andersen told AFP, while insisting the underlying science and the “integrity of the report” were not in question.

Summary “torpedoed” in negotiations

Since the first outlook report in 1997, UNEP has published a shorter, plain-language summary designed to help governments act on the science.

Under UN rules, that text must be agreed by consensus because it is treated as a collective political understanding of the report’s findings.

But at a five-day meeting in late October, divisions over the wording proved too deep to bridge.

Minutes of the meeting seen by AFP said major oil producers Saudi Arabia and the United States opposed references to phasing out fossil fuels – which are used to make plastics and, when burnt, are the main driver of climate change.

The minutes said other disagreements covered language on gender, conflict and environmentally harmful subsidies, among other issues.

EU and allies criticise “diversion attempts”

As talks closed, the European Union, the UK and a number of other countries issued a joint statement criticising what they called “diversion attempts” during the negotiations, without naming any nation.

“It’s always the same story,” a French diplomat told AFP, describing what they said were “difficult discussions” at UNEP headquarters in Nairobi.

Ms Andersen said several countries had “significant disagreements” but defended their right to dissent, adding that the US delegation “was quite quiet” until indicating its opposition at the end.

She said she hoped the outcome would not set a precedent for other UN processes.

Report calls for energy “transformation”

The 1,200-page report, titled A Future We Choose, argues that investing in a cleaner planet could generate trillions of dollars a year in added economic growth.

A central recommendation is “a total transformation of our energy system”, according to the report’s co-chair, British scientist Sir Robert Watson, who has previously led UN expert panels on climate change and biodiversity.

“We clearly have to eliminate the use of fossil fuels over the coming decades,” he told reporters.

Wider pattern in UN talks

The dispute echoes broader tensions in international negotiations, where consensus-based decision-making has increasingly stalled on language related to oil, gas and coal — as well as plastics.

Political progress on fossil fuel language has been difficult since countries agreed at the UN climate summit in Dubai in 2023 to “transition away” from fossil fuels.

In recent months, pressure from the US helped delay a vote on emissions pricing for global shipping, while talks on a proposed global plastics treaty collapsed in August amid opposition from oil-producing nations, according to AFP.

Last month’s COP30 climate summit ended with a diluted deal after dozens of countries — including Saudi Arabia and coal producer India — opposed stronger calls to speed up a fossil fuel phase-out.

Sir Robert warned the world was “not moving fast enough… to become sustainable” and said governments willing to move faster would need to lead.

“The cost of action is less than the cost of inaction,” he said, adding, “At this moment in time, multilateralism does seem to be in trouble.”