If you missed our COP Explainer, check it out here: Big COP Energy
The Halfway Point
An oily, oily mess
Here’s the real spill without any media bias-
COP Host Sultan Al Jaber (UAE) denies any science behind demand to phase out fossil fuels
- The controversy comes from an exchange Al Jaber had with former Irish President Mary Robinson, during a live event Nov. 21. Pressed by Robinson to take a lead in “phasing out fossil fuel with a just transition,” Al Jaber said -
“A phase down and a phase out of fossil fuel in my view is inevitable — it is essential — but we need to be real, serious and pragmatic about it… 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 1.5.”
My Take: Sultan Al Jaber threads a line between acknowledging the phase out of fossil fuel is necessary, however also covering personal and national interests. As the COP 28 hosting president, Al Jaber is under pressure to foster a working, legitimate agreement amongst all parties at COP to phase out fossil fuels for the sake of his geo-political position, while also keeping the lights on for the oil-giant he currently heads and growing his nation’s oil-dependent economy.
Fun Fact: Nearly 2,500 fossil fuel representatives at COP 28
Fossil Fuel Phase Out Agreement Progress
- While the EU and US are pushing for some kind of commitment to phase out fossil fuels, China, India and others have balked at the approach, and Saudi Arabia’s energy minister said they wouldn’t agree to phase down language in a final accord.
- So far more than 100 countries are backing the phase out of fossil fuels
My Take: Oil-nations and exploding economies that have been energy dependent or poised to be, are expectedly holding back progress on an agreement of such. It’s clear national vs global interests are severed in many cases- much to which I imagined the entire purpose of the United Nations was to maintain. There needs to be an incentive embedded in the agreement to draw upon the opposing parties interest and foster a formidable trust between leaders on the climate front, as well as punitive action if the agreement is not-followed in order for this to have legs.
Culture @ COP
Bring Back the Woolly Mammoth
A Russian billionaire is using COP to advertise for the revival of the woolly mammoth, what could go wrong?
Sci-fi me is drooling in awe at the fact we could see woolly mammoths again but realistic me has obvious reservation of “billionaire trying to restore ice-age era ecology and bring back giant animals from the dead”.
- Russian billionaire Andrey Melnichenko is presenting a plan at COP28 to counter methane emissions from Siberian permafrost by recreating a Pleistocene-era ecosystem, complete with woolly mammoths.
- The project, funded by Melnichenko's “Pleistocene Park”, aims to restore Russia's ice age ecology to slow the release of methane trapped in the country's vast tundra.
- The exhibition at COP28 showcases a digital representation of ice age animals in a springtime tundra, and Melnichenko's foundation is listed as a "climate supporter" on the official COP28 website.
You can read more here: Bloomberg
