It’s an inconvenient truth.American climate crusader Al Gore is warning the United Nation’s COP28 summit “is now on the verge of complete failure” over lack of agreement to phase out all fossil fuels at the global confab in Dubai.That’s because the gathering of the planet’s 100 largest polluters on Monday failed to reach agreement on a draft resolution to eliminate oil, natural gas and coal by 2050. At issue is the specific language of the text and particularly the use of the term ‘phasing out’ as being too vague..Instead, the draft version calls for actions that 'could' include “reducing both consumption and production of fossil fuels, in a just, orderly and equitable manner so as to achieve net zero by, before, or around 2050 in keeping with the science.”The European Union is sticking with its insistence fossil energy needs to be eliminated except for industries such as steelmaking, while the US State Department is seeking “to balance a variety of interests.” Other countries, such as Saudi Arabia, want any reference to fossil fuels excluded entirely. Monday’s draft reportedly came after a marathon session of negotiations that was published six hours later than expected. “The world desperately needs to phase out fossil fuels as quickly as possible, but this obsequious draft reads as if OPEC dictated it word for word,” Gore said. “It is even worse than many had feared.”.This obsequious draft reads as if OPEC dictated it word for word,”Al Gore.Gore went on to accuse the summit hosts of caving in to Big Oil interests at the expense of smaller countries in the Third World. And especially the appointment of summit President Sultan Al Jaber, the head of the UAE’s state-owned oil company, as a “direct conflict of interest.”“It’s not so much that it’s in a country that produces oil; it’s the appointment of the CEO of one the biggest and least responsible oil companies on the planet to be the head of the conference,” Gore told CNN’s State of the Union news program on Sunday.Premiers Danielle Smith and Scott Moe from Alberta and Saskatchewan are presently attending the summit in a bid to counteract Canada’s Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault. That hasn’t stopped him from introducing new limits on methane emissions and a cap on oil and gas output.The summit wraps up on December 12.
It’s an inconvenient truth.American climate crusader Al Gore is warning the United Nation’s COP28 summit “is now on the verge of complete failure” over lack of agreement to phase out all fossil fuels at the global confab in Dubai.That’s because the gathering of the planet’s 100 largest polluters on Monday failed to reach agreement on a draft resolution to eliminate oil, natural gas and coal by 2050. At issue is the specific language of the text and particularly the use of the term ‘phasing out’ as being too vague..Instead, the draft version calls for actions that 'could' include “reducing both consumption and production of fossil fuels, in a just, orderly and equitable manner so as to achieve net zero by, before, or around 2050 in keeping with the science.”The European Union is sticking with its insistence fossil energy needs to be eliminated except for industries such as steelmaking, while the US State Department is seeking “to balance a variety of interests.” Other countries, such as Saudi Arabia, want any reference to fossil fuels excluded entirely. Monday’s draft reportedly came after a marathon session of negotiations that was published six hours later than expected. “The world desperately needs to phase out fossil fuels as quickly as possible, but this obsequious draft reads as if OPEC dictated it word for word,” Gore said. “It is even worse than many had feared.”.This obsequious draft reads as if OPEC dictated it word for word,”Al Gore.Gore went on to accuse the summit hosts of caving in to Big Oil interests at the expense of smaller countries in the Third World. And especially the appointment of summit President Sultan Al Jaber, the head of the UAE’s state-owned oil company, as a “direct conflict of interest.”“It’s not so much that it’s in a country that produces oil; it’s the appointment of the CEO of one the biggest and least responsible oil companies on the planet to be the head of the conference,” Gore told CNN’s State of the Union news program on Sunday.Premiers Danielle Smith and Scott Moe from Alberta and Saskatchewan are presently attending the summit in a bid to counteract Canada’s Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault. That hasn’t stopped him from introducing new limits on methane emissions and a cap on oil and gas output.The summit wraps up on December 12.
