"The president of the COP28 climate summit, Sultan Al Jaber, recently claimed there is 'no science' that says phasing out fossil fuels is necessary to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, in comments that have alarmed climate scientists and advocates.
"The future role of fossil fuels is one of the most controversial issues countries are grappling with at the COP28 climate summit. While some are pushing for a 'phase-out,' others are calling for the weaker language of a 'phase-down.' Scientific reports have shown that fossil fuels must be rapidly slashed to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees — the goal of the Paris climate agreement, and a threshold above which scientists warn it will be more difficult for humans and ecosystems to adapt.
"Al Jaber ... was asked by Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland and current chair of the Elders Group, an independent group of global leaders, if he would lead on phasing out fossil fuels. In his response, Al Jaber told Robinson, “there is no science out there, or no scenario out there, that says the phase-out of fossil fuel is what’s going to achieve 1.5.” He said he had expected to come to the ... meeting to have a “sober and mature conversation” and was not “signing up to any discussion that is alarmist.”
"He continued that the 1.5-degree goal was his 'north star,' and a phase-down and phase-out of fossil fuel was 'inevitable' but 'we need to be real, serious and pragmatic about it.
"In an increasingly fractious series of responses to Robinson pushing him on the point, Al Jaber asked her 'please, help me, show me a roadmap for a phase-out of fossil fuels that will allow for sustainable socio-economic development, unless you want to take the world back into caves'.”
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| Cartoon by Alex Gregory, New Yorker (2013) |
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