Exclusive: UAE’s Sultan Al Jaber says phase-out of coal, oil and gas would take world ‘back into caves’

Exclusive: UAE’s Sultan Al Jaber says phase-out of coal, oil and gas would take world ‘back into caves’

The president of Cop28, Sultan Al Jaber, has claimed there is “no science” indicating that a phase-out of fossil fuels is needed to restrict global heating to 1.5C, the Guardian and the Centre for Climate Reporting can reveal.

Al Jaber also said a phase-out of fossil fuels would not allow sustainable development “unless you want to take the world back into caves”.

The comments were “incredibly concerning” and “verging on climate denial”, scientists said, and they were at odds with the position of the UN secretary general, António Guterres.

    • WhatAmLemmy@lemmy.world
      37·
      1 year ago

      This is exactly why they hosted it in an OPEC nation; to continue hamstringing the transition from fossils & delaying the impact to their profit margins — the same thing they’ve been doing for the last 50 years.

      • Chup@feddit.deEnglish
        7·
        1 year ago

        There was an article on Washington Post last week explaining COP28 and details around it. Also the reason for the location:

        Why is an oil kingdom hosting COP28?

        The United Nations rotates the location of COPs each year through five regions: Africa, Asia-Pacific, Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Western Europe. This year, it was the Asia-Pacific group’s turn to host, and the United Arab Emirates made an unopposed bid in May 2021.

        Source (Published November 27, 2023): https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/11/27/cop28-climate-summit-dubai/

      • tinkeringidiot@lemmy.world
        2·
        1 year ago

        It’s because UAE volunteered to pay for it all. These things are expensive and no one over age 8 believes a UN event will result in any action, much less international cooperation on climate. Since it’s all just a PR stunt, UAE might as well spend a rounding error of its oil proceeds on having some control over the narrative.