COP28
Climate summit president believes phasing out fossil fuels is unnecessary
Sultan al-Jaber is COP28 President. photo
© Kamran Jebreili/AP/dpa
More than 120 countries want to strengthen measures that prevent the health-endangering consequences of climate change. However, the explanation has gaps. And a statement from the climate summit president is also irritating.
The President of the World Climate Conference in Dubai, Sultan Al Jaber has questioned the scientific consensus that phasing out fossil fuels is necessary to achieve the international 1.5 degree target, according to a report.
The “Guardian” and the “Centre for Climate Reporting” reported, citing their own information, that Al-Jaber said in a video link with UN representatives in November, among others, that there was “no science” to prove that the exit was possible fossil fuels are necessary to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees compared to pre-industrial times.
Al-Jaber is controversial as the host of the climate conference because he is also the head of the state oil company. According to the report, in the video conference he claimed that development without the use of fossil energy was not possible “if you don’t want to catapult the world into the Stone Age.”
When asked by the Guardian, the COP28 presidency did not deny the statements, but went on to say that Al-Jaber had referred to the fact that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change also assumes in its scenarios that fossil fuels will continue to play a role in the energy system of the future – albeit a smaller one.
Criticism of health declaration
Health experts also previously criticized a declaration made by a number of countries at the World Climate Conference as being too weak. “Fossil energies are not even mentioned, even though they are largely to blame for climate change and therefore also for the health impacts,” said expert Jess Beagley from the Climate and Global Health Alliance, a coalition of health organizations from around the world, in Dubai. Other experts also criticized the announcement.
“Whether it is really a health COP in the end depends on whether states decide and implement ambitious decisions to phase out fossil energies,” said doctor Sophie Gepp from the Center for Planetary Health Policy to the German Press Agency.
The declaration issued by the host of the climate conference – the United Arab Emirates – which has been joined by more than 120 countries, aims to strengthen research and measures that prevent the health-endangering consequences of climate change – but the words “fossil energy sources” or “phase out of fossil fuels ” you search in vain in the text. Whether the climate conference in the oil state can agree on the global phase-out of coal, oil and gas is considered one of the most controversial points at the climate conference.
“Climate crisis and health crisis are one and the same”
The World Health Organization and more than 40 doctors from all over the world called in Dubai to accelerate the phase-out of fossils. State governments should also implement the announcements they have made regarding climate protection.
The health experts warned of “dangerous distractions” such as CO2 storage or geoengineering, on which some countries are pinning their hopes in the fight against the climate crisis. In reality, however, these technologies are considered scientifically controversial, very expensive and difficult to scale on a large scale.
“The fact is that the climate crisis and the health crisis are one and the same,” said US special envoy John Kerry in Dubai. “They are completely connected.”