The Conference of the Parties or COP28, the UN's annual meeting bashing fossil fuels, was shaken to its foundation when the president of the gathering, Sultan Al Jaber, mentioned on the sidelines of the conference that eliminating fossil fuels, as many climate activists have demanded, is "alarmist" and would send the world “back into caves” at the expense of developing countries.
The Sultan wasn't finished. He nearly initiated a mass heart attack among delegates when he said there is “no science” to back the statements from activists and the UN secretary-general, António Guterres, that eliminating fossil fuels would bring the world closer to keeping the rise in temperature to 1.5 degrees centigrade.
"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 1.5C," the Sultan said.
“Show me the roadmap for a phase-out of fossil fuel that will allow for sustainable socioeconomic development, unless you want to take the world back into caves,” he added. “I don’t think [you] will be able to help solve the climate problem by pointing fingers or contributing to the polarization and the divide that is already happening in the world.”
Yes, Al-Jaber is from the UAE and they pump a lot of oil for the planet. But he's also not wrong. He's just committing blasphemy.
Shocked attendees of the event told the Guardian that Mr. Al Jaber’s comments were “incredibly concerning” and amounted to “climate denialism.” Mr. Al Jaber’s comments contradict statements from the secretary general of the United Nations, António Guterres, who told delegates Friday that the science is settled on global warming. “The 1.5C limit is only possible if we ultimately stop burning all fossil fuels,” Mr. Guterres said. “Not reduce, not abate. Phase out, with a clear timeframe.”
In addition to being the host of the Dubai event, Mr. Al Jaber is also the chief executive of the United Arab Emirates’ state oil company, Adnoc.
No science proves cutting fossil fuel consumption entirely will keep the temperature from rising more than 1.5C. There's also no scientific, empirical evidence that proves reducing greenhouse gas emissions will halt or reduce the temperature rise. There are models. There are graphs. There is logic.
But no proof. No scientific proof. Some observed temperatures may be based on faulty sensors. Some sensors may be giving misleading data because of where they are. We don't know how reliable temperature observations are, so developing a strategy to keep an increase in temperatures at a certain level is idiotic.
“The science is clear," UN chief Guterres told Cop28 delegates on Friday.
Most science is never "clear." Most of the time, clear science becomes murky when better ways to measure and calculate the world and universe are found. The James Webb Space Telescope's recent discoveries are calling into question some of Albert Einstein's theories on gravity.
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The fear-mongering is getting more hysterical as people's belief in Climate theory wanes. Bill Hare, the chief executive of Climate Analytics, says there is, indeed, a "road map" to a 1.5C future and that the science is "absolutely clear."
“Al Jaber is asking for a 1.5C roadmap – anyone who cares can find that in the International Energy Agency’s latest net zero emissions scenario, which says there cannot be any new fossil fuel development. The science is absolutely clear [and] that absolutely means a phase-out by mid-century, which will enhance the lives of all of humanity.”
"‘Sending us back to caves’ is the oldest of fossil fuel industry tropes: it’s verging on climate denial," said Hare.
He's passing off a "scenario" as "clear science." Given the current lag time in the development of alternative energy sources, it's not at all clear that industrial-scale electricity can be generated to meet the needs of an energy-hungry earth by 2050.
What's more worrisome than Al-Jaber's rants is the willingness of global warming fanatics to gamble with the future of industrialized civilization.
