The role of fossil fuels has become one of the most contentious issues at the climate summit, COP28, being held in Dubai this year.
On one side are countries calling for fossil fuels to be phased out as quickly as possible. On the other are those arguing for what they describe as a more “realistic, serious and pragmatic” approach.
Ahmed Al Jaber and fossil fuels at COP28
Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, COP28 President, is among those taking the latter position. Al Jaber is currently the United Arab Emirates’ Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology. He is also chief executive of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and chair of Masdar, a state-owned renewable energy company.
At COP28, Al Jaber found himself at the centre of the controversy following remarks he made during the “She Changes Climate” panel on 21 November. The discussion was moderated by Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland and current chair of The Elders, an independent group of world leaders.
Asked by Robinson whether he would lead a phase-out of fossil fuels, Al Jaber said that “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 1.5°C”.
After Mary Robinson pressed him further on the matter, Al Jaber ended with an “appeal”:
“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.”
- Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, COP28 President
Speaking to journalists at COP28 today, Al Jaber sought to clarify his controversial remarks, saying they had been misinterpreted: “I have always been very clear on the fact that we are ensuring that everything we do is centred around the science.”
He stressed that “the phase-down and the phase-out of fossil fuel is inevitable. In fact, it is essential, but it needs to be orderly, fair, just and responsible”.
Reactions to Al Jaber’s COP28 remarks
As expected, Al Jaber’s comments prompted a wide range of responses. Carroll Muffett, president of the Centre for International Environmental Law, a non-profit organisation, said that “the only way to ‘decarbonise’ carbon-based oil and gas is to stop producing it, swiftly, completely and permanently. Anything else is simply more industry greenwash”.
António Guterres’ address at the COP28 opening ceremony followed the same line of reasoning:
“We cannot save a burning planet with a fire hose of fossil fuels. We must accelerate a just, equitable transition to renewables. The science is clear: the 1.5°C limit is only possible if we ultimately stop burning all fossil fuels. Not reduce. Not abate. Phase out, with a clear timeframe.”
- António Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General
Also responding to Al Jaber’s statements, Bill Hare, chief executive of Climate Analytics and author of several UN reports on climate change, described the exchange between Mary Robinson and Al Jaber as “extraordinary, revealing, worrying and confrontational. ‘Taking the world back into caves’ is a recurring fossil fuel industry argument that virtually demonstrates denial of all climate change.”
Hare also said that “one of the latest International Energy Agency reports states that there can be no new fossil fuel development. The science is absolutely clear, which means a phase-out by the middle of the century while improving the lives of all humanity.
In conclusion, Hare said that “the real challenge for the oil and gas sectors is to stop producing oil and gas. In the end, nothing else matters”.”
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