Fiona Harvey’s valuable interview with Dr Sultan Al Jaber (‘I wasn’t the obvious choice”: meet the oil man tasked with saving the planet, 7 October) hints at the importance of reducing methane, something she has previously identified as the most important measure to meet the 1.5C limit set out in the 2015 Paris agreement (Eight things the world must do to avoid the worst of climate change, 21 March 2023). Unless this short-lived super climate pollutant is cut immediately, the carbon budget for 1.5C – “beyond which” as she rightly reported “climate chaos will ensue” – is impossible and the Paris agreement is out of reach.
Dr Al Jaber wants near zero emissions of methane – the correct goal for the limited time the world should allow the continued use of fossil fuels. He has obtained agreement from many companies to end flaring and limit methane by 2030. That is a start, but it is not ambitious or fast enough.
Dr Al Jaber’s leadership of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company gives him the authority to convince all such national companies – responsible for 75% of methane emissions from the oil and gas sector – to accept mandatory measures to limit methane emissions to near zero in the next two to three years, with strong monitoring from satellites and ground measurements.
That should be supported by robust funding from last year’s $4tn in fossil fuel profits, and be followed by a global methane agreement requiring mandatory reductions from all sectors. The Montreal protocol on ozone depletion provides a model: by imposing mandatory phaseouts of harmful pollutants, supported by a dedicated funding mechanism, it is doing more than any other agreement to slow climate warming, while putting the ozone layer on the path to recovery.
Durwood Zaelke
President, Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development
Maxime Beaugrand
Director, IGSD Paris office
