As EU countries agree on their negotiating stance at UN climate talks, divisions and tensions emerge over phasing out fossil fuels. The faultlines fall between wealthier EU members calling for rapid climate action and poorer economies concerned about the cost of quitting fossil fuels. The disagreements foreshadow the challenges that lie ahead at COP28, where major fossil fuel-producing and consuming nations will confront Europe’s call for a fossil fuel phase-out. The prospects for an ambitious climate deal at COP28 remain uncertain.