COP 28 President: There Is "No Science" behind Demands for Phase-out of Fossil Fuels
COP28's President, Sultan Al Jaber, participated in a live She Changes Climate event on November 21 where he responded to questions from Mary Robinson, former Irish President and UN special envoy for climate change. Ms. Robinson asked: "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 (Abu Dhabi National Oil Company), you could actually take it with more credibility."

In his response Sultan Al Jaber said: "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°C … 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." The rest of the 7:38 video degenerated into ill-tempered accusations.

The Guardian story quoted reaction to Sultan Al Jaber's heresy about promoting use of fossil fuels when "the science is clear …", but a COP28 spokesperson supported him: "The IEA and IPCC 1.5C scenarios clearly state that fossil fuels will have to play a role in the future energy system, albeit a smaller one. The COP president was quoting the science, and leading climate experts."

US climate envoy John Kerry reacted to Sultan Al Jaber's remarks, saying: "Look, he's gotta decide how he wants to phrase it, but the bottom line is this COP needs to be committed to phasing out all unabated fossil fuel … I heard him definitively say in his opening comments to the entire COP that he is committed to 1.5 degrees and that we need to do all the things necessary to implement that."