Energy ministers from the group of 20 nations meeting in India Saturday, July 22, 2023, failed to agree on a roadmap to phase down the use of fossil fuels in the global energy mix.
A final statement after the meeting did not even mention coal, a major contributor to global warming.
The dirty fuel is also a key energy source for many developing economies such as India, the world's most-populous country and China, the world's second-largest economy.
Campaigners were dismayed by the failure to reach agreement in Goa on COP goals including tripling the world's renewable capacity and doubling energy efficiency by 2030.
It came despite G7 leaders agreeing in Hiroshima in May to "accelerate the phase-out of unabated fossil fuels".
Global temperatures are hitting record highs, triggering floods, storms and heatwaves.
Explaining the stalemate, G20 president India said that some members had emphasised the importance of seeking a "phase down of unabated fossil fuels, in line with different national circumstances".
But "others had different views on the matter that abatement and removal technologies will address such concerns," it added.
Alden Meyer, a senior associate at independent climate think tank E3G, condemned the outcome of the meeting.
"With temperature records being set daily around the world and the impacts of climate change spiralling out of control, the world needed to hear a clarion call to action from the G20 energy ministers," he said in a statement.
"Instead, what we got was very weak tea indeed."
Emirati oil boss Sultan Al Jaber, who will head up the COP28 talks, has said he expects fossil fuels to continue to play a role with the use of often controversial technologies to "abate", or neutralise, the emissions.
He has said that a phase down of fossil fuels is both "inevitable" and "essential", but has been reluctant to spell out a time frame.
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