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“What good is our climate summit if it is undermined by the shadowy networks of the fossil fuel lobby?”
The question, asked by Global Citizen activists, comes after Sultan Al Jaber was announced in January to lead the United Nations climate change conference, COP28, to be held in the United Arab Emirates later this year. It's one of the questions resonating among climate activist networks. Emirates will also continue in its role as head of the national oil company. “This makes the whole summit a sham,” one activist told Global Citizen.
COP28, to be held from 30 November to 12 December 2023, is a key milestone marking the halfway point in the implementation of the global goals and will examine how countries respond to their Paris emissions reduction commitments. This will be the first time that the Iruka has been evaluated. 2015 (known as the Paris Agreement)—a process known as the “global stocktake.”
One of the core issues on the agenda is fossil fuels, which still account for 82% of the world's energy supply, according to the industry's World Energy Survey report. As a reminder, fossil fuels (coal, oil, and gas) are the biggest contributors to the climate crisis, accounting for over 75% of global greenhouse gas emissions and almost 90% of all carbon dioxide emissions. occupies .
Ahead of crucial climate change talks, Al Jaber stressed the need for a “phasing out” of fossil fuels, saying fossil fuel companies are key to the world's energy transition. Not everyone agrees.
At best, climate activists hope that Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) CEO Al Jaber will take the decisive action needed to end the world's dependence on fossil fuels. They claim that it is naive and, at worst, scandalous. Adnoc itself is the 11th largest oil and gas producer in the world and has announced an investment of $150 billion over five years to expand oil and gas production.
Winnie Cheche, a conservationist, climate change activist and communications leader for the Kenya Environmental Action Network, says this is like “giving the lion the job of protecting the antelope.'' French lawmaker Manon Aubry further emphasized this point, saying: “It's like a multinational tobacco company supervising the internal workings of the World Health Organization.”
Al-Jabbar was scheduled to speak at the Energy Intelligence Forum in London in October, known as the “Oscars of Oil” among climate change activists, but reports said the He declined, and this was Fossil Free London's decision. Claim There were a large number of protesters at the venue, including Greta Thunberg.
In recent years, fossil fuel companies have backed away from climate pledges, lobbied against climate change regulations, promoted fossil fuels to young people on Fortnite, and manipulated Congress with false information. They are taking away more than the leaves of the trees. playbook.
Speaking at a side event at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in September, former UN climate chief Christiana Figueres has long advocated for oil and gas companies to have a seat at the climate policy-making table. Fossil fuel companies said: If it continues to block climate action, it should be excluded from the COP28 climate summit. Her remarks came just months after she made her position clear in her op-ed titled: I was wrong. “
Shortly after Figueras' opinion was published, the United Nations announced that it would require fossil fuel lobbyists to identify themselves as fossil fuel lobbyists when registering for COP28. Politicians praised the move, but journalist Amy Westervelt said it was just “an addendum”.[s] It's like a fairy tale where industry representatives attend summits in good faith. ”
At COP26 in Glasgow in 2021, there were more fossil fuel lobbyists than any other country's delegation. In fact, oil, gas and coal had more representation at the summit than the eight countries most affected by climate change since 2000 combined.
“Hundreds of fossil fuel lobbyists find it very easy to join the COP, but climate justice advocates find it very easy to get involved,” cross-cutting climate activist Tori Tsui told Global Citizen. Many people cannot participate because they have to compete for accreditation and funding.”
Many activists who wish to participate face the problem of high costs. According to activist Mana Omar's calculations, “one person would need at least $6,000 to $7,000 to attend,” putting climate change conferences out of reach for many activists, especially those in the Global South. It becomes.
“We don’t have anything yet in terms of accreditation, funding and visas,” climate activist Jero Saar told Global Citizen. “It’s like looking for gold here.”
This year's summit will be held in the United Arab Emirates, which the Guardian revealed in April has a zero-disruption plan for the world's third-largest oil and gas expansion. ing.
With the UAE as a fossil fuel producer receiving a lot of media attention, activist Tori Tsui asked us to ask about it.
“If the US were hosting the COP, many would discuss Biden's leadership on climate change, even though more fossil fuel expansion is planned than any other country on earth. UAE ,” she told us.
“We often make wealthy oil and gas producers the leaders of climate change, so we have to ask why we apply such scrutiny to fossil fuel producers in the Global South. No,” she continued. “The UAE needs to do more to phase out fossil fuels, but it also needs to make sure it doesn’t just get away with the problem by blaming other countries.”
A report released by the United Nations in September found that governments are failing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions fast enough to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement and avoid climate disaster.
According to the report, achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement requires “phasing out all unabated fossil fuels.” This may not sound controversial on the surface, but after debates over the wording “phase out'' or “de-escalation'' in past climate change talks, fossil fuels This was the first time that the need to phase out fuels was explicitly adopted by the United Nations.
COP26 President Alok Sharma said the report's findings will undoubtedly be an important discussion point at COP28. “If the world agrees to consign fossil fuels to history at COP28, it will be an important achievement and a victory for people and the planet,” he said.
Ugandan climate activist Nyombi Morris is clear: If government leaders are serious about ending fossil fuels, they should support the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Fossil Fuels. The treaty is an international treaty led by a bloc of Pacific nations governing a just transition away from fossil fuels. fuel.
“Words won't get through this time. Either you act or we treat COP28 as a tourist conference,” Morris said.
