Above, interview with Fred Krupp of Environmental Defense Fund, who lauds new methane commitments.
Below, Guardian account of full on climate denial coming from controversial leadership with ties to the fossil fuel industry.
The president of Cop28, Sultan Al Jaber, has claimed there is “no science” indicating that a phase-out of fossil fuels is needed to restrict global heating to 1.5C, the Guardian and the Centre for Climate Reporting can reveal.
Al Jaber also said a phase-out of fossil fuels would not allow sustainable development “unless you want to take the world back into caves”.
The comments were “incredibly concerning” and “verging on climate denial”, scientists said, and they were at odds with the position of the UN secretary general, António Guterres.
Al Jaber made the comments in ill-tempered responses to questions from Mary Robinson, the chair of the Elders group and a former UN special envoy for climate change, during a live online event on 21 November. As well as running Cop28 in Dubai, Al Jaber is also the chief executive of the United Arab Emirates’ state oil company, Adnoc, which many observers see as a serious conflict of interest.
More than 100 countries already support a phase-out of fossil fuels and whether the final Cop28 agreement calls for this or uses weaker language such as “phase-down” is one of the most fiercely fought issues at the summit and may be the key determinant of its success. Deep and rapid cuts are needed to bring fossil fuel emissions to zero and limit fast-worsening climate impacts.
Al Jaber spoke with Robinson at a She Changes Climate event. Robinson said: “We’re in an absolute crisis that is hurting women and children more than anyone … and it’s because we have not yet committed to phasing out fossil fuel. That is the one decision that Cop28 can take and in many ways, because you’re head of Adnoc, you could actually take it with more credibility.”
Al Jaber said: “I accepted to come to this meeting to have a sober and mature conversation. I’m not in any way signing up to any discussion that is alarmist. There is no science out there, or no scenario out there, that says that the phase-out of fossil fuel is what’s going to achieve 1.5C.”
Robinson challenged him further, saying: “I read that your company is investing in a lot more fossil fuel in the future.” Al Jaber responded: “You’re reading your own media, which is biased and wrong. I am telling you I am the man in charge.”
Al Jaber then said: “Please help me, show me the roadmap for a phase-out of fossil fuel that will allow for sustainable socioeconomic development, unless you want to take the world back into caves.”
“I don’t think [you] will be able to help solve the climate problem by pointing fingers or contributing to the polarisation and the divide that is already happening in the world. Show me the solutions. Stop the pointing of fingers. Stop it,” Al Jaber said.
Guterres told Cop28 delegates on Friday: “The science is clear: The 1.5C limit is only possible if we ultimately stop burning all fossil fuels. Not reduce, not abate. Phase out, with a clear timeframe.”
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Hot take: These dudes are going to do what they do. Those of us working on the ground need to double down and keep working.
The utter bullshit coming out of Al Jaber’s mouth is still infuriating, even though it would be shocking if he & the people & organizations aiding him in hijacking the COP weren’t lying.
But 2030 is far too late just to stop leaks in the system that is, even without the leaks, going to destroy civilization & nature. Like greenwashing by oil corporations who promise to reduce their operating emissions while continuing to destroy civilization & nature by operating, the corporations have again bought themselves time to keep profiting & dominating by promising to do something they have no intention of doing. That’s all just standard in this shitshow, as is both parties doing everything they can to stay in power while helping the fossil fuel corporations that are providing money to help them stay in power.
NRDC bullshitting—even if the oil & gas corporations don’t find a way to weasel out of meeting their agreements—is, however, a blow. It’s hard to say whether their greenwashing, by pretending a deal to do nothing is something, is better or worse than the oil industry’s bullshitting.
After Al Jaber’s extraordinary outburst yesterday, I expected to find the papers full of indignant attacks on his ignorance and bad faith. Silly me. All I found was this ‘diplomatic’ comment from John Kerry, tucked away in an obscure corner of the Guardian:
“John Kerry, the US special envoy for climate was just asked on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme in the UK what he thinks of Damian Carrington’s scoop that Sultan Al Jaber said there was ‘no science’ behind demands for phase-out of fossil fuels.
He was very diplomatic in his response and appeared to give the oil chief and Cop28 president the benefit of the doubt.
“Well I think what he was saying … is the science itself does not prescribe a particular approach, it doesn’t say you have to do this or you have to do that,” Kerry explained.
“What you have to do is clearly reduce the emissions. They have made it clear we need a 43% minimum reduction in emissions by 2030, and we need net zero 2050 in order to meet the goal of keeping 1.5. We’ve got all kinds of ways of getting there. Renewables are the one technology we really know we can deploy today and it has the impact we need.”
Of course the science says no such thing. Kerry is lying too.
43% by 2030 is far too little too late, & even worse, because of all the techniques of delay by the far right, we’re not going to come anywhere near achieving it.
“NZ 2050″ is a lie meant to delay meaningful action; as a goal it has even less relation to science & reality. The “2050″ puts off real action so long we can continue to drift without purpose for years, until it’s too late to start the real work & have any useful effect in time. And the “net zero” makes it subjective & virtually impossible for non-scientists to accurately judge progress.
Like Republican attempts to confine NASA to remote space science, & right wing Australian government moves to zero out the budget of CSIRO, the southern hemisphere’s main Earth-science organization, it’s an attempt to make people more ignorant about the things the right wing is denying & trying to hide.
Nothing will fix this in the short term except to remove the bipartisan right wing from power. Nothing will fix it in the longer term but radical economic & political equality & healing the complex individual & collective psychological condition that causes all our problems.