Climate Summit leader tries to calm the furor over a comment about fossil fuels
Simmering tensions surrounding the decision to hold a global climate summit in a petrostate came to light on Monday when Sultan Al Jaber, the Emirati oil executive leading the conference, angrily made public his position on ending the use of fossil fuels. defended.
Mr Al Jaber, who runs state oil company Adnoc, has come under fire for a video that emerged in which he said there is “no science” behind the idea that fossil fuels need to be phased out to maintain the average global economy. The temperature should not exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels.
That’s the threshold above which scientists say people would struggle to adapt to increasingly severe storms, drought, heat and rising sea levels due to global warming.
Climate experts convened by the United Nations have said countries must cut fossil fuel emissions by 43 percent from 2019 levels by the end of this decade if the world has any hope of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius .
Many diplomats and scientists say this would be impossible without phasing out fossil fuels and want governments to emerge from climate talks promising to end the use of coal, oil and gas.
“The 1.5 degree limit is only possible if we eventually stop burning all fossil fuels,” António Guterres, UN Secretary-General, said on Friday. “Don’t reduce. Do not reduce. Phase out. With a clear time frame set to 1.5 degrees.”
Mr Al Jaber made the controversial comments two weeks ago, but they only came to light on Sunday when they were reported by The Guardian.
He participated in a panel discussion called She changes the climate. In a video of the exchange, Mary Robinson, the former president of Ireland and now a leading climate advocate, asked Mr. Al Jaber if he would lead a global effort to phase out fossil fuels.
“There is no science, or no scenario, that says phasing out fossil fuels will achieve 1.5,” Mr Al Jaber replied. He chastised the panel for asking the question, saying he had expected a “sober and mature conversation” and not an “alarmist” one.
“Please help me, show me a roadmap for a fossil fuel phase-out that will enable sustainable socio-economic development, unless you want to take the world back into caves,” he told the panel.
His comments set off a firestorm at the Dubai climate talks known as COP28.
Former Vice President Al Gore, who has called for replacing fossil fuels with wind, solar and other renewable energy, attacked Mr Al Jaber.
“From the moment this absurd masquerade began, it was only a matter of time before its ridiculous disguise no longer hid the reality of the most blatant conflict of interest in the history of climate negotiations,” Mr. Gore said in an email. “It is clear that the world must phase out fossil fuels as quickly as possible.”
He said Mr Al Jaber has “prepared one of the most aggressive expansions of fossil fuel production, timed to begin as soon as he strikes the final hammer to conclude COP28.”
But on Monday, a defiant Mr Al Jaber suggested he did not say what he heard said on the video. And he indicated that anyone who said otherwise was trying to undermine his leadership of COP28.
Before a packed and hastily organized press conference, Mr Al Jaber appeared to take the criticism personally and described his background as an economist and engineer. “I respect science in everything I do,” he said.
“I have said time and time again that the phase-out and phase-out of fossil fuels is inevitable,” Mr Al Jabber said.
He emphasized that he has called many times for a phase-out of fossil fuels and said his efforts to promote climate change have been ignored by the media.
Mr Al Jaber appeared offended and said: “one statement, taken out of context with misrepresentation and misinterpretation, which receives maximum attention.”
The planet has already warmed by about 1.2 degrees since the Industrial Revolution, driven by the burning of coal, oil and gas.
Jim Skea, the chairman of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, speaking alongside Mr Al Jaber on Monday said fossil fuels must be “sharply reduced” by 2050 to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees. Coal-fired power plants without technology to capture and store emissions should be phased out completely, he said.
The fossil fuel industry has responded to suggestions of a phase-out, saying technology could capture and store CO2 emissions, allowing it to continue functioning. But scientists broadly agree that the technologies the oil industry depends on, such as carbon capture and storage, cannot be deployed at the scale or pace needed to mitigate the worst impacts of climate change. prevent.