Ariadne<p><a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/Cop28" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Cop28</span></a> president shows true colours - "Cop28 president says there is ‘no science’ behind demands for phase-out of <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/FossilFuels" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>FossilFuels</span></a>. <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/UAE" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>UAE</span></a> Sultan <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/AlJaber" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>AlJaber</span></a> says phase-out of <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/coal" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>coal</span></a>, <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/oil" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>oil</span></a> and <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/gas" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>gas</span></a> would take world ‘back into caves’. The president of Cop28, Sultan Al <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/Jaber" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Jaber</span></a>, has claimed there is “no science” indicating that a phase-out of fossil fuels is needed to restrict <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/GlobalHeating" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>GlobalHeating</span></a> to 1.5C, the <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/Guardian" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Guardian</span></a> and the Centre for Climate Reporting <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/CCR" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CCR</span></a> can reveal.</p><p>Al Jaber also said a phase-out of fossil fuels would not allow <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/sustainable" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>sustainable</span></a> development “unless you want to take the world back into caves”.<br>...<br>Bill Hare, the CEO at Climate Analytics, said: “This is an extraordinary, revealing, worrying and belligerent exchange. ‘Sending us back to caves’ is the oldest of <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/FossilFuel" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>FossilFuel</span></a> industry tropes: it’s verging on climate denial.”<br>...<br>The comments were “incredibly concerning” and “verging on <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/ClimateDenial" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ClimateDenial</span></a> ”, scientists said, and they were at odds with the position of the <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/UN" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>UN</span></a> secretary general, António <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/Guterres" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Guterres</span></a>.</p><p><a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/AlJaber" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>AlJaber</span></a> made the comments in ill-tempered responses to questions from Mary Robinson, the chair of the Elders group and a former UN special envoy for <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/ClimateChange" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ClimateChange</span></a>, during a live online event on 21 November. As well as running Cop28 in <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/Dubai" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Dubai</span></a>, Al Jaber is also the CEO of the United Arab Emirates’s state <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/oil" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>oil</span></a> company, <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/Adnoc" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Adnoc</span></a>, which many observers see as a serious conflict of interest. </p><p>Al Jaber spoke with Robinson at a She Changes Climate event. Robinson said: “We’re in an absolute crisis that is hurting women and children more than anyone … and it’s because we have not yet committed to phasing out fossil fuel. That is the one decision that Cop28 can take and in many ways, because you’re head of Adnoc, you could actually take it with more credibility.”</p><p>Al Jaber said: “I accepted to come to this meeting to have a sober and mature conversation. I’m not in any way signing up to any discussion that is alarmist. 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.”</p><p>Robinson challenged him further, saying: “I read that your company is investing in a lot more fossil fuel in the future.” Al Jaber responded: “You’re reading your own media, which is biased and wrong. I am telling you I am the man in charge.”</p><p>Al Jaber then said: “Please help me, 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.”</p><p>“I don’t think [you] will be able to help solve the climate problem by pointing fingers or contributing to the polarisation and the divide that is already happening in the world. Show me the solutions. Stop the pointing of fingers. Stop it,” Al Jaber said.</p><p>Guterres told Cop28 delegates on Friday: “The science is clear: The 1.5C limit is only possible if we ultimately stop burning all fossil fuels. Not reduce, not abate. Phase out, with a clear timeframe.”</p><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/dec/03/back-into-caves-cop28-president-dismisses-phase-out-of-fossil-fuels" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">theguardian.com/environment/20</span><span class="invisible">23/dec/03/back-into-caves-cop28-president-dismisses-phase-out-of-fossil-fuels</span></a></p><p><a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/ClimateCrisis" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ClimateCrisis</span></a> <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/Klimakrise" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Klimakrise</span></a> <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/Klima" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Klima</span></a> <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/Climate" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Climate</span></a> <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/Cop28Dubai" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Cop28Dubai</span></a> <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/CO2" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CO2</span></a> <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/CH4" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CH4</span></a> <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/Methane" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Methane</span></a> <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/Carbon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Carbon</span></a> <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/FossilFuel" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>FossilFuel</span></a> <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/Capitalism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Capitalism</span></a></p>