For many years, there has been broad consensus and agreement among the vast majority of scientists and experts that burning fossil fuels have been the primary contributor to global climate change, which is already causing problems for humanity. Since those problems are only expected to get worse as the climate continues to warm, there have been some efforts at reaching an international agreement to comfort this problem.
One of those major efforts, COP28, has now concluded, and reactions to this climate conference have been decidedly mixed. Unsurprisingly, many of the organizers and leaders of the event are heralding its success. But some of those leaders are important figures in the fossil fuel industry, and they have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo when it comes to the production, sale, and use of fossil fuels.
According to the United Nations, 75 percent of greenhouse gas emissions and about 90 percent of carbon dioxide emissions can be traced back to burning fossil fuels. Many activists were aiming to get concrete agreements from nations about phasing out or halting the use of fossil fuels at the COP28 summit. Instead, the compromise has been to make a promise to transition away from fossil fuels.
AT COP28, there was some progress: nations made promises to provide some economic incentives for the development of green solutions to climate problems, and a fund that is supposed to provide compensation to disadvantaged countries on the front lines of climate change was created. More than fifty countries have also agreed to reduce methane emissions, which is crucial since methane is a far more potent greenhouse gas that carbon dioxide.
But there was no agreement to stop the use of fossil fuels. Instead, countries agreed to "transition away" from fossil fuels. This vague promise was made without providing any details of how that would happen, and with no agreement about what might happen if countries do not lower their use of oil and gas.
"The agreement to "transition away" from fossil fuels was weak tea at best," Michael Mann, a climatologist and geophysicist at the University of Pennsylvania told AFP. "It's like promising your doctor that you will 'transition away' from donuts after being diagnosed with diabetes. The lack of an agreement to phase out fossil fuels was devastating."
In 2021, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) offered to host the COP28 climate conference, and they are considered to be a climate vulnerable country. After being selected as host for the United Nations conference, the UAE chose Sultan Al Jaber, as the president of COP28. He has a PhD in business and economics from Coventry University, an MBA from the California State University, and is the head of the United Arab Emirates' state-owned oil company. Many have criticized this choice, in part because of a clear conflict of interest.
This year is sure to be the warmest on record for the planet, and there have been a wide array of extreme weather events that have killed thousands of people.
Some countries are totally in favor of the continued use of fossil fuels, and they pushed for language that included the term abatement. While that may refer to carbon capture, there was no definition provided, leaving it up to nations to interpret how they wish.
"It's hailed as a compromise, but we need to be very clear what has been compromised. The short-term financial interest of a few have again won over the health, lives and livelihoods of most people living on this planet," said climatologist Friederike Otto.
Some people are still expressing optimism, however. "This agreement delivers on making it clear to all financial institutions, businesses and societies that we are now finally—eight years behind the Paris schedule—at the true beginning of the end of the fossil-fuel driven world economy," said Johan Rockstrom, a professor in environmental science who directs the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.
Sources: Bloomberg News, NPR, AFP
