Summary
Wrapping up another day of Cop28 in Dubai, the main event was Sultan Al Jaber, the summit president, calling a surprise press conference.
He called the presser after the Guardian reported he had said a phase-out of fossil fuels would not allow sustainable development “unless you want to take the world back into caves”.
Al Jaber gave a fierce defence of himself, claiming his comments had been “misinterpreted”. He defended his record, and said he believes in the science and that Cop28 has been very successful so far.
All eyes will now be on Al Jaber over the coming days to see if he can fulfil his pledge that an “unprecedented outcome” to keep alive hopes of limiting global temperature rises to 1.5C, is within reach.
In other developments:
Water Aid called for rich countries to do more to meet this year’s target of $300m for the climate adaptation fund.
More than 1000 climate scientists called for mass collective action to avert climate breakdown.
Representatives of small island states said they would continue to demand a phaseout of fossil fuels – and hold Sultan Al Jaber to account for this.
Updated
Scientists urge public to take collective action to stop climate breakdown
Nearly 1500 scientists, who include authors of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports on the climate crisis, have signed an open letter calling on the public to take collective action to avert climate breakdown.
“We are terrified,” they warn. “We need you.”
“Wherever you are, become a climate advocate or activist,” the letter, published on Monday by Scientist Rebellion says.
They published the letter as delegates of world leaders at COP28 in Dubai have yet to come to any agreement on the idea that fossil fuels should be either “phased out” or “phased down” as the UN climate conference continues. Remarkably no COP has ever managed to produce a global agreement on either a phase out or down of fossil fuels.
Fossil fuel lobbyists are in force at the conference, and the chair Sultan Al Jaber, who is also head of the UAE national oil company, Adnoc, is under fire over comments revealed in The Guardian claiming there is no science behind demands for a phase out of fossil fuels.
In frustration at the lack of action by Governments, the scientists are calling for a large-scale mobilisation of society to tackle the entrenched power of the fossil fuel industry, its lobbyists and politicians.
Our dedicated fashion followers may have noticed some colour coordination among the civil society participants, particularly the veteran climate justice advocates. Sunday was white for human rights and solidarity with Palestine, today yellow for climate finance, which might explain why this morning’s protest features special guest Pickachu. This was no last minute wardrobe planning – turns out the climate justice movement has a daily colour code, an idea borrowed from the feminist movement.
“The colours are underlining the boldness but also joy of our feminists’ demands for a just and livable future that was joined this year by civil society and Indigenous peoples in solidarity. It goes back to 2015 when feminists in the UN space for SDGs came up with it for the first time”, said Pat Bohland, from the Women and Gender Constituency Facilitative Committee.
Tuesday is orange for phase out fossil fuels and Wednesday is blue for loss and damage.
Updated
Water Aid has condemned the failure of richer countries to meet pledges of money for the climate adaptation fund. Only $155m has been raised for the climate adaptation fund this year, a huge shortfall from the target the fund set itself for this year of $300m.
Claire Seaward, global campaigns director for WaterAid said: “We’re hugely disappointed that by the end of the finance day, we’ve not seen rich countries respond with the urgent adaptation financing required.
“Rich governments must double the public adaptation commitments … Until we see significantly more funding flowing down to vulnerable communities, we will keep demanding more urgent action.”
Updated
Keir Starmer: Sunak has broken UK political consensus on climate change
The UK will come back strongly to the world stage to “lead from the front” in tackling the climate crisis under a Labour government, UK opposition leader Keir Starmer has pledged, after meeting world leaders at the Cop28 summit in Dubai.
“There’s an overwhelming feeling here among world leaders that they want to see the UK back playing a leading role,” he told the Guardian at the UN climate talks. “That’s why our statement of intent that under a Labour government we will be back playing a leading role has been really well received.
“And when we say leading on this, we mean leading by the power of example.”
He also accused prime minister Rishi Sunak of breaking the UK’s longstanding cross-party consensus on the climate crisis. “We want to restore that cross-party consensus, but the way we will do it is by leading from the front,” said Starmer. “Those that want to be with us on this journey are very welcome. And I know there are leading lights in other political parties who would welcome an incoming Labour government leading from the front.”
Read more below.
Coventry University’s vice-chancellor has spoken on how young people can make a real difference at Cop28.
Professor John Latham CBE spoke at an event designed to promote actions and solutions through education. It was attended by students and higher education representatives from across the world.
Prof Latham said: “Cop28 is a remarkable milestone and I believe that the climate conversation is not only for politicians, academics or policy specialists; it is for everyone because it concerns everyone.”
Updated
Fatou Ndoye is a Senegalese climate expert who coordinates mangrove restoration in the west African country. She oversees a network of more than 30,000 fisherwomen in Senegal that are worth 900m euros to the economy and vital to the nation’s food supply.
Ndoye was the 2016 winner of the Gender Just Climate solutions awards. Previous winners are invited to Cops to provide input on negotiations and
Ndoye is a strong entry in our best-dressed series for Cop28.
Al Jaber says that science has guided his strategy as Cop28 president
The president of Cop28 has been forced into a fierce defence of his respect for climate science, following the Guardian’s revelation of his comment that there was “no science out there, or no scenario out there, that says that the phase-out of fossil fuel is what’s going to achieve 1.5C”.
At a hastily arranged press conference at the summit in Dubai, Sultan Al Jaber, who is also CEO of the UAE’s state oil company, Adnoc, said: “I respect the science in everything I do. I have repeatedly said that it is the science that has guided the principles or strategy as Cop28 president.”
“We have always built everything, every step of the way, on the science, on the facts,” he said.
Al Jaber made the controversial comments in ill-tempered responses to former UN climate envoy Mary Robinson during an online event on 21 November. During the exchange, he also said: “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.”
Updated
Despite being at war with Russia, Ukraine has signed a deal at Cop28 with Danish renewable energy company Vestas to supply turbines to build in the country.
They agreed to build 64 wind turbines (of 6 MW each) with a total capacity of 384 MW. The first stage of the windfarm with a capacity of 114 MW was commissioned in the spring of 2023. Combined, the first and second phases of DTEK Tyligulska windfarm will have a capacity of around 500 MW (83 wind turbines).
900,000 households worth of electricity will be generated annually by the plant, and estimates suggest the project will save 1.7m tons of Co2.
The country has found onshore wind turbines to be a resilient form of energy during the war and is attempting to expand its capacity so the country can be reliably powered during the conflict.
Meanwhile, only two onshore wind turbines were built in England last year and no new projects have been planned.
As Al Jaber defends his position on the main stage at Cop, my colleague Nina Lakhani finds that away from the headlines there are lively discussions on other ideas.
We do try and make time for folks off the beaten Cop path, and today’s side event on crop diversity – an issue close to my heart – was a good reminder on why traditional knowledge and solutions need to be given more attention and resources.
“Crop diversity can help us reduce greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture, adapt to drought and promote healthy diets and sustainable livelihoods. There is no food security without it but we’re losing diversity from the fields and too many seed banks are inadequately resourced, ” said Stefan Schmitz, director of the Crop Trust.
Industrial agriculture dominated by monocrops, synthetic fertilisers, deforestation and conglomerates has devastated naturally occurring crop diversity in the past 60 years or so, and the race is now on to breed drought resistant and more weather-flexible crops. In the UAE for example, there are wild dates and olive trees adapted to extreme mountain conditions which could provide a “genetic treasure trove”, according to the World Wildlife Fund, which is trying to locate and conserve the heritage seeds for future generations. “Mankind created and has survived on the basis of crop diversity, it is part of our cultural heritage and nature. But there’s no sustainability climate funding available for protecting diversity, it goes to the food industry and 21st innovations, not traditional solutions,” added Schmitz.
Updated
Summary so far
What a busy day so far at Cop28. Obviously the main story was the surprise press conference held by Sultan Al Jaber, who was giving a response to Damian Carrington’s scoop on his comments questioning the science between fossil fuel phase-out.
I am handing over to my colleague Sandra Laville but before I do so, I’ll run you through the highlights. Stay tuned as this story continues to unfold – it will likely remain an explosive day at the summit.
Sultan Al Jaber, the Cop28 president, called a shock press conference after the Guardian reported he said a phase-out of fossil fuels would not allow sustainable development “unless you want to take the world back into caves”. In the conference he claimed this comments were “misinterpreted” and defended his record, said he believes in the science and that Cop28 has been very successful so far. He seemed genuinely rattled and kept repeating that he believes in the science. Damian, who broke the story, had a front row seat.
Cop director general, the ambassador Majid Al Suwaidi, also had to defend Al Jaber’s remarks, and implied that those who reported them were “undermining” the conference.
Representatives of small island states said they will continue to demand for a phaseout of fossil fuels – and hold Sultan Al Jaber to account for this.
Barbados’s prime minister, Mia Mottley, gave a press conference regarding international financial systems, where she said: “We are living in the age of superlatives. Temperature and extreme weather records are tumbling, and our finance systems cannot cope”.
In an exclusive interview with the Guardian, former US vice-president Al Gore said an agreement by countries to phase out fossil fuels would be “one of the most significant events in the history of humanity”. He added that it is “absurd” to put a fossil fuel company CEO in charge of Cop28.
A new report by CARE International UK found that women’s rights organisations are being shut out of climate finance.
Updated
Al Jaber says comments claiming there is ‘no science’ behind demands for phase-out of fossil fuels were 'misinterpreted'
The Cop28 president and oil chief gave an extraordinary response to a question from a reporter from the Sydney Morning Herald who directly addressed the Guardian report. He claimed he had been misrepresented and gave an impassioned defence of his background and belief in the science.
Al Jaber said he had “incredible respect for Mary Robinson” after he was accused of being arrogant towards the former Irish president when he said there was no scientific need to phase out fossil fuels, adding: “I was very honoured to receive her invitation to speak in a discussion around climate and gender.”
Then he came on to the media reports of his comments (which are in this blog on camera at 08.57):
“Let’s just clarify where I stand on the science … I honestly think there is some confusion out there and misrepresentation. Let me first introduce myself to you. I’m an engineer by background. It’s the science and my respect for the science and my conviction for the science and the passion for the science that have allowed me to progress in my career.”
Said he has supplemented this with “business and economic skills” to progress in his career.
He added:“The phase-down and the phase-out of fossil fuels … is essential. It needs to be orderly, fair, just and responsible.”
Al Jaber accused those who reported his comments on phasing out fossil fuels of “undermining” his message: “Allow me to say that I am quite surprised at the constant attempt to undermine this message.”
Updated
Al Jaber is continuing his press conference, defending his record as Cop28 president after it was called into question following his questioning of the science behind phasing out fossil fuels.
He said his Cop had so far been very successful, pointing out the “breakthrough agreement on loss and damage” he said he has been “repeatedly saying” that he “made a promise” to make it happen and start filling an “empty bank account”. Of the loss and damage agreement he said:
“Again, that’s the first time in any Cop, on day one, that such a decision gets appointed. This is historic, these are success stories, no one can deny those.”
He also said that the conference has “tackled methane” for the first time and he has made it one of his “top priorities”.
The Cop28 president has also drawn attention to the tens of billions pledged by countries in the first four days of the summit.
Al Jaber said he has a “genuine and sincere intent to take that responsibility and attempt to translate all this great progress into real actions”.
Updated
Al Jaber tries to reset his image after Guardian scoop
Sultan Al Jaber is holding a surprise press conference right now following Damian Carrington’s scoop on his comments which have rocked the summit.
He has insisted that he respects the science after he said that a phaseout of fossil fuels was not scientifically necessary to to reach a cut of 1.5C.
“Let’s remember why we are all here. We are all here because we made a very clear call to action and we’ve been very upfront about it and we said clearly and repeatedly that the UAE takes this task with humility, responsibility and we fully understand the urgency behind this matter.
“We are here because we very much believe and respect the science. 43% of global emissions must be reduced by 2030.”
He added that “everything has been focused around and centred around the science”, repeating he has been “crystal clear on that”.
Updated
There’s a row in France brewing over nuclear energy. The country has managed to vastly decarbonise its energy system due to 70% of it coming from nuclear power stations. France has in recent decades, after the 1973 oil crisis, had a strong focus on energy security, mostly based around its nuclear capacity.
President Emmanuel Macron at Cop28 has hailed the signing of a declaration to triple nuclear energy by 2050 and recognise “the key role of nuclear energy in achieving global net-zero greenhouse gas emissions/carbon neutrality by or around mid-century”.
“Nuclear energy is back,” he said as he celebrated the decision by 22 countries to sign the pledge, including the United States, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Hungary, and the Netherlands.
He added that “we need the World Bank, international financial institutions [and] multilateral development banks to include nuclear energy into their energy-lending policies”.
However, left-wing politician Jean-Luc Mélenchon said: “notwithstanding the specific dangers of nuclear power, the idea [of an international declaration] is ridiculous […] and worthy of someone more concerned with the future of the nuclear industry than with saving humanity”.
Greenpeace France has also complained, and said Macron has a “pro-nuclear obsession” which “masks his lack of seriousness when it comes to climate action”.
Updated
There’s a palpable uptick in anger among civil society delegates today, amid growing impatience at the fossil fuel industry’s influence over the climate talks. “We are tired of explaining again and again why the fossil fuel industry should not be here, of why these talks continue to fail to deliver from frontline communities. We are over it,” said Rachel Rose Jackson, from Kick Big Polluters Out, the global campaign group which is busy analysing the oil and gas lobbyists at Cop28. We’ll be reporting more on that tomorrow.
At the Climate Action Network’s daily briefing, Dr David Boyd, UN special rapporteur for human rights and the environment, laid out the obligations countries face under international law to take climate action. “Let’s be crystal clear, the climate crisis is a human rights crisis, and it’s having a profound impact on the right to life, health, water, the right to a clean, healthy sustainable environment and the rights of the child - for billions of people across the world. Wealthy high emitting countries have an obligation to phase out fossil fuels and provide sufficient finance for mitigation, adaptation and loss and damage. And while it would be nice to have human rights in the [Cop] text, these legal obligations exist whether or not they are retired in these documents.”
Boyd supports a carbon tax, which at $30 a ton would raise a tidy sum of a trillion or so annually.
And lastly, as the negotiations get serious now that the leaders have gone, Lili Fuhr, director of the legal groups CIEL’s fossil economy program, warned that the global stocktake (GST) risks becoming “bloated and meaningless”. “The US, the very worst climate wrecker, has plans for massive oil and gas expansion and wants to talk about unabated emissions, which is part of the festival of false solutions the fossil fuel industry is promoting here. A GST decision without clear guidance on fossil fuel phase out will be a massive distraction and wasted opportunity. Time is running out.”
ActionAid UK has sent in a comment from their senior climate and resilience advisor Zahra Hdidou. She said the loss and damage funding comments so far at the summit failed to take into account the vital role women play in mitigating the effect of climate breakdown in their communities.
“Every day we see the trauma and destruction climate changes wreaks on women and girls. In nearly every country where we work, we hear stories of girls pushed to drop out of school or forced to marry early to help families manage the financial stress.
“But this is not the only story we hear. Whether in drought-stricken East Africa or in the aftermath of cyclones in South Asia, women are defying the victim narrative and keeping their communities safe through community responses to climate disasters.
“At Cop there is always a complete disconnect between lofty rhetoric and the crucial role that women play in protecting, helping to recover, and rebuild from climate shocks. Yet it was disappointing to see so many male leaders take to the stage to pledge loss and damage funding that failed to recognise the vital role women play in helping their communities stay resilient against climate shocks.
“We are urging the international community to recognise the transformative power of women’s responses to climate disaster and rapidly scale up funding now.”
After the comments by Sultan Al Jaber, the president of Cop28, which seemed to undermine those who are pushing for a phase out of fossil fuels, many people seem to have lost faith in the process.
But progress is still taking place at the summit, the Grantham Institute’s Bob Ward has said, and people should not lose heart, as depressing as the remarks may have been.
You should judge COP28 by the outcomes, not some comments by the President. To claim COP28 is a sham is to claim all 197 governments are fooling the world, but we already have many real outcomes including capitalisation of the loss and damage fund, declarations on finance, etc.
— Bob Ward (@ret_ward) December 4, 2023
Here is a video of the discussion in which Al Jaber made the controversial comments regarding phasing out oil and gas.
Cop28 head put on spot over Al Jaber comments
At the Cop28 presidency press conference this morning, ambassador Majid Al Suwaidi, who is director general of the summit, did not initially want to answer questions about Cop28 president Sultan Al Jaber’s comments 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 1.5C”. The comments, revealed by the Guardian, have caused uproar among many in Dubai.
But reporters crowded around him as he left, and he said:
“There are those out there who are consistently trying to undermine our presidency from day one. The Cop presidency has been very clear that 1.5C is the North Star. [Al Jaber] has also been very clear about how fossil fuels are on the agenda.
“What he was talking about was, of course, net zero 2050. It’s very clear in all of the scientific reports that fossil fuels are going to be part of that mix. And he’s spoken very clearly that he thinks the phase down of fossil fuels is inevitable. He is the CEO [of UAE state oil company Adnoc], he’s the person who understands the science, he understands the industry. In that conversation, what he was asking simply was, how do we do this?”
“There are many things that are happening here at Cop that you are not reporting about, and you’re focused on this one thing. But Cops are about everything, it’s about the whole package and we’ve said from the very beginning that energy is the number one pillar, so we’re not hiding away from it. I think that our Cop president is doing a great job.”
More than 100 countries have called for a phase out, not phase down, of fossil fuels. Many scientists have also rejected Al Jaber’s claims, pointing to IPCC and IEA scenarios. They have also rejected his claim that a phase-out of fossil fuels would not allow “sustainable socio-economic development, unless you want to take the world back into caves”. Adnoc has the world’s biggest net-zero busting plans for increasing oil and gas production, according to independent analysis.
Updated
Young people have been protesting against Sultan Al Jaber’s comments, proclaiming that contrary to what the Cop28 president said, the science is clear that oil and gas needs to be phased out to meet the 1.5 degree goal.
Youth protesters angry at #cop28 about Al Jaber’s ‘no science’ comments
— Damian Carrington (@dpcarrington) December 4, 2023
“The science is clear - phase out fossil fuels”
@Luisamneubauer
Video: Jasmin Qureshi pic.twitter.com/S12s0WfoBZ
Updated
Small island states say they will hold Al Jaber to account on phase-out
Representatives of small island states here at Cop28 have said they will continue to demand for a phaseout of fossil fuels – and hold Sultan Al Jaber to account for this.
At a press conference for the Alliance of Small Island States (Aosis) this morning, the representatives repeatedly made clear that fossil fuels must be ditched in order to remain within 1.5C of global heating – a particularly vital goal for low-lying, developing island countries.
Tina Stege, climate envoy of the Marshall Islands, pointed out that Al Jaber, the president of Cop28 who has come under fire for his comments that there is “no science” to a fossil fuel phase-out in keeping to this temperature limit, has called 1.5C the “north star” of the negotiations.
“We will hold him to that,” said Stege. “If 1.5C is the north star, in practice what that means is a phase out of fossil fuels, that is what the science has said. It’s where we start and where we end. From my perspective, we will be looking to the presidency for his leadership to deliver on what he has said.”
“Across the board there is an understanding that 1.5C is what is needed for all of us to stay alive,” Stege added. “What that means is we need to address the root cause of the problem, which is the burning of fossil fuels. Unless we do so we will blow past 1.5C...We can’t pretend there are other pathways to achieve 1.5C when so many lives are at stake.”
Asked by the Guardian whether the small island nations still have confidence in Al Jaber’s leadership of the Cop process, Toeolesulusulu Cedric Schuster, Samoa’s environment minister and chair of Aosis, pointed to the pragmatic realities of the ongoing diplomacy.
“We still have a week left,” Schuster said. “We would like to continue our work. We have our goals. We will prefer to continue to stand up for what we believe in.”
Updated
A timely new report is out today. While the CEO of ExxonMobil was complaining this weekend that Cop28 does not focus enough on carbon capture and storage, research shows that a high Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) pathway to net zero emissions in 2050 is expected to cost at least $30 trillion more than a low CCS pathway - roughly $1 trillion per year.
Oil and gas companies hope that CCS can keep their operations going for longer and at a larger scale, but the scientific community has cast doubts on whether it can be used at scale, beyond the heavy industries it is very difficult to decarbonise.
CCS is set to feature prominently at the summit this week, with major oil and gas producing countries expected to unveil shared carbon storage goals.
The analysis from the Smith School at the University of Oxford has found rolling out CCS throughout the economy, rather than just in a handful of essential sectors, makes little sense from a financial perspective.
“Relying on mass deployment of CCS to facilitate high ongoing use of fossil fuels would cost society around a trillion dollars extra each year – it would be highly economically damaging,” says Dr Rupert Way, Honorary Research Associate at the Oxford Smith School.
The United Arab Emirates’ vast fossil fuel production is contributing to dangerously high air pollution levels, creating health risks for its people and migrant workers in addition to heating the planet, according to a report by Human Rights Watch.
HRW analysis of data from 30 government ground monitoring stations in September 2023 found that average levels of PM2.5 (very small toxic particles that can penetrate deep into the lungs and easily enter the bloodstream) were almost three times the daily recommended levels under the World Health Organization’s air quality guidelines.
An estimated 1,872 people a year die from outdoor air pollution in the UAE, where migrants account for 88% of the population and virtually all outdoor workers, who face the highest risks. The sky has been hazy with pollution on most days since thousands of delegates descended on Dubai for Cop28, with daily air quality readings up to five times above the WHO’s air quality recommendations.
Read more below.
John Kerry, the US special envoy for climate was just asked on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme in the UK what he thinks of Damian Carrington’s scoop that Sultan Al Jaber said there was ‘no science’ behind demands for phase-out of fossil fuels.
He was very diplomatic in his response and appeared to give the oil chief and Cop28 president the benefit of the doubt.
“Well I think what he was saying … is the science itself does not prescribe a particular approach, it doesn’t say you have to do this or you have to do that,” Kerry explained.
“What you have to do is clearly reduce the emissions. They have made it clear we need a 43% minimum reduction in emissions by 2030, and we need net zero 2050 in order to meet the goal of keeping 1.5. We’ve got all kinds of ways of getting there. Renewables are the one technology we really know we can deploy today and it has the impact we need.”
He then spent some time talking about the US climate goals and that they are signed up to phase out fossil fuels.
“We are not only signed up to that, president Biden on behalf of the US voted to join the g7 where we said we must phase out unabated fossil fuel. We have to do that yes otherwise you cannot reach net zero by 2050. What we are trying to figure out is how we can capture those emissions, or reduce those emissions, or not make those emissions in the first place.
“I think the only question here is not whether or not you are going to reduce emissions, it’s what means are you going to use to go at this to provide the energy you want for your country but also keeping faith with the reduction of the emissions that are creating the climate crisis.”
Updated
Women’s rights organisations are being shut out of climate finance, a new report by CARE International UK has found.
Launched to coincide with Finance and Gender Day, the study shows that women’s rights organisations received less than 0.2% of UK bilateral climate finance in 2022. Even though the impacts of climate breakdown are linked to gender inequality, less than 1% of UK bilateral climate finance targeted gender equality specifically last year.
Perhaps it is no coincidence that only 38% of registered delegates at Cop28 are women, an increase of 1% compared to Cop27 - historically negotiations have been very male-dominated, allowing gender inequality to be sidelined. Of the 133 world leaders attending COP28, just 15 were women.
Stephanie Akrumah, a climate activist and Director of the Centre for Green Growth, a Ghana based NGO, said:
“Women and girls should be at the centre of tackling the climate crisis but instead, our voices are silenced and we are ignored when funding is distributed. Conscious and unconscious barriers holding women back must be demolished. We are losing our lives and livelihoods due to climate change caused by rich countries and corporations. It is time for Rishi Sunak and other world leaders to listen and support women and girls.”
Here is some further reading on gender and climate.
Our leader column today calls for a “green Marshall plan” to phase out fossil fuels for good.
It says that it is “crazy” that governments plan to produce more than double the amount of fossil fuels in 2030 that is consistent with a “safe” global temperature rise of 1.5C.
Indeed, the 2015 Paris agreement does not mention fossil fuels as responsible for global heating, so countries can both sign up to meet 1.5C while rolling out new oil and gas exploration contracts.
It points out that although Colombia’s economy is dependent on fossil fuels, which account for about half of its exports, its president has committed to stop the expansion of coal, oil and gas exploitation. If they can do it, why can’t we?
Read more below.
Updated
New Zealand has won an award at Cop28. Unfortunately it is not one to be proud of. Each day, the Climate Action Network is branding one country the “fossil of the day” – an award for the most bone-headed and regressive climate action.
Yesterday, it was given to New Zealand because of the newly-formed government’s choice to overturn the existing world-leading ban on new oil and gas exploration. Christopher Luxon, the new prime minister, has vowed to open the country’s vast ocean to more oil and gas exploration, rowing back on his predecessor Jacinda Ardern’s 2018 ban.
Climate Action Network says:
“Does climate change minister Simon Watts not hear the climate alarm bells ringing? He may underestimate the devastating climate consequences of this decision but we, and their Pacific island neighbours in Palau, who slammed his intentions as ‘TRAGIC’, certainly do not.
“Minister Watts may be new to his role but we remember the decade-long campaign led by Indigenous Māori communities who succeeded in achieving a ban on oil and gas exploration in New Zealand’s oceans. Not only does Watts and the rest of the New Zealand government want to remove the country’s legacy of climate leadership but they also seek to redefine legislative interpretation of the country’s founding treaty with Māori communities, to reassess Treaty-based policies, and to roll back official use of Māori language – undoing the progress made between Māori and government relationships.”
Updated
Most of the world does not have fossil fuel phase out plan - report
A new report has found that global net zero targets are at risk because the majority of countries have not set proper targets to stop using fossil fuels.
Net Zero Tracker has today released the stark data showing the chasm between global net zero targets and the action needed to make them happen. It has found that net zero targets cover 88% of global GHG emissions, but only 7% of those emissions are covered by any kind of national commitment to phase-out exploration, production or use of coal, oil or gas. In total, 13% have pledged a full phase-out of any fossil fuel.
The report says that 94% of oil-producing countries have not set an oil exploration phase-out pledge, with a similar number (95%) failing to commit to phase-out gas exploration.
The lack of plans is encouraging the expansion of fossil fuels, the study finds.
Natasha Lutz, co-data lead, net zero tracker (University of Oxford), said:
“Phasing-out fossil fuels is a key element of realising credible pathways to net-zero. A lack of commitment at the country level leaves the door open for fossil fuel expansion and is inconsistent with achieving the temperature goals set out by the Paris Agreement.
“This proliferation of net-zero ambition without the commitment towards fossil-fuel phase-out highlights the need for entities to determine how these targets will be achieved. A pledge without a plan for implementation is at risk of becoming a bumper-sticker; broadcasted but never taken seriously.”
Updated
Al Gore: phase out would be one of ‘most significant events in history of humanity'
In an exclusive interview with the Guardian, former US vice-president Al Gore has said an agreement by countries to phase out fossil fuels would be “one of the most significant events in the history of humanity”. He added that it is “absurd” to put a fossil fuel company CEO in charge of Cop28.
It would be a “welcome surprise” if world leaders agreed at the climate talks to call for an end to fossil fuels, but such a declaration would have “enormous impact” upon the world, Gore said at the gathering in the United Arab Emirates.
“If there were a decision here to surprise the world to say ‘OK we get it now, we’ve made enough money, we will get on with what needs to be done to give young people a sense of hope again and stop as much as suffering as possible and start the phase-out of fossil fuels’, it would be one of the most significant events in the history of humanity,” the former US vice-president said.
Read more below.
Updated
Sultan Al Jaber may not think a phase out of fossil fuels is necessary, but Pikachu certainly disagrees. My colleague Damian Carrington sends in this snap of an eye-catching protest for the ‘finance day’ of the summit.
Mia Mottley: 'extreme weather records are tumbling, and our finance systems cannot cope'
The Prime Minister of Barbados and one of the world’s foremost negotiators on loss and damage, Mia Mottley, has kicked off finance day at Cop with a press conference.
She said: “We are living in the age of superlatives. Temperature and extreme weather records are tumbling, and our finance systems cannot cope”.
It may have surprised some that Mottley was so gracious and polite to Sultan Al Jaber after his comments yesterday, thanking him for his work on the summit. But she is a diplomat, and that is her role.
She said:
Adaptation, mitigation, loss and damage. Those have been the three areas that we have been focused on for the last few years. This has probably been the most progress we’ve seen in the last twelve months on finance but we’re not where we need to be at, so first of all I want to give thanks and I really do want to give thanks to Dr Sultan for his leadership and determination that we should leave Dubai with progress even if we are not at the final destination.
"I want to give thanks to Dr. Sultan for his leadership and determination that we should leave Dubai with progress" - H.E. Mia Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados pic.twitter.com/Jb59HUilLJ
— COP28 UAE (@COP28_UAE) December 4, 2023
Mottley also said that the oil and gas sector has to be at the table when it comes to negotiating on decarbonisation, as do banks and the finance sector.
Barbados PM Mia Mottley: Those who regulate banks, and determine credit ratings should be part of the climate conversation.
— Josh Gabbatiss (@Josh_Gabbatiss) December 4, 2023
She says the oil & gas sector also has be at the table.
“You cannot say that it's 1.5C to stay alive, and we continue to play with voluntary commitments” pic.twitter.com/pRAlXHSsfp
Updated
Health agreement reached - but no mention of fossil fuels
Yesterday, 123 countries signed the first ever Declaration on Climate and Health which included galvanising finance for climate and health solutions, and a commitment to incorporate health targets in their national climate plans.
The UAE announced an “aggregated” funding commitment of $1 billion towards the implementation of health-focused climate activities, money which comes from agencies including the Green Climate Fund, the Asian Development Bank and the Rockefeller Foundation. But, and it’s a big but, it’s unclear how much of this money is new money, and it’s also unclear whether it will take the form of grants or yet more debt for vulnerable nations.
And while the declaration acknowledged that reducing climate health impacts will require emission reductions, there is not a single mention of fossil fuels – which is a bit like having an alcoholism prevention plan without mentioning alcohol.
Updated
Opening summary
Good morning! This is Helena Horton, bringing you coverage from the fifth day of the UN’s Cop28 climate summit.
It’s likely to be an interesting day as the fallout from my colleague Damian Carrington’s scoop continues. Many experts viewed it as a ‘mask-off’ moment when Cop28 president Sultan Al Jaber told a meeting that there was “no science” behind demands for a phase-out of fossil fuels. Scientists have reacted strongly to the news, calling it “astonishing” and “farcical”.
The Guardian will be liveblogging the negotiations throughout. You can email me at helena.horton@theguardian.com or on X/Twitter at @horton_official, and my colleague Sandra Laville (sandra.laville@theguardian.com, @sandralaville) will take over later on.
Today’s official themes are finance, trade, gender equality and accountability, so expect reports and news focused on those themes, as well as on the wider negotiations.
In the meantime, here are some of yesterday’s key events:
Sultan Al Jaber, the UAE president of the Cop28 climate talks, told a meeting that there was no science showing a phase-out of fossil fuels was necessary to limit global heating to 1.5C (2.7F) above preindustrial levels. The Guardian and the Centre for Climate Reporting revealed Al Jaber’s comments.
Protesters at the conference called for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Indigenous groups condemned the murder of an activist in Peru.
The UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak, faced criticism over his climate policies and fleeting visit as leader of the opposition Keir Starmer stayed in Dubai to meet world leaders.
Updated
