A climate conference like no other
Things are heating up at this year's UN climate conference, hosted by oil-producing United Arab Emirates.
Climate negotiators are meeting in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) this week for COP28, the annual United Nations Climate Change Conference.
Think about the beautiful irony of a petro state hosting this largely useless blab-fest. What makes this year even more delicious is that the person in charge of the COP — Sultan Ahmad Al-Jaber — is not just the UAE’s minister of industry and advanced technology but also the head of the state-owned oil company. Enjoy the in-your-face paradox; it must surely be satirical, right?
When it comes right down to it, these conferences are opportune political publicity stunts, where eloquent, hollow diplo-babble provides perfect cover for the genuinely tough conversations that need to be had. Concerned parties can be seen as doing something without doing anything at all — it could just as easily be a gathering of magicians.
Hold on one second. Not on the Sultan’s watch, it would seem!
Al-Jaber laid the table perfectly on November 21, during an 8.5-hour livestreamed event hosted by SHE Changes Climate. The Sultan phoned in for the closing session with former Irish Prime Minister Mary Robinson (along with Sophie Lambin — the CEO of a communications agency called Kite Insights — and Samar Alshorafa — CEO of She is Arab).
The only man on a panel of strong-willed women, Al-Jaber had a rather truthy and somewhat heated exchange with Robinson (please know that given the conflicts in the region, we chose to avoid using the term truth bomb, but his interaction was pretty heady stuff). He laid it out:
COP28 is going to be a different COP. We have demonstrated from day one that we are a presidency that will address issues head on. We will not kick the can and we will not shy away from facts.
When Robinson asked, “Will you lead on phasing out fossil fuels,” he replied, “You can take the lead. I’ll make sure I put you as an item on the agenda. You come from a developed country. Developed countries I’m sure can take the lead, like they always do.”
Parts of the exchange made front-page news when the Guardian reported that Al-Jaber said, “There is no science out there, or no scenario out there, that says the phase-out of fossil fuel is what’s going to achieve 1.5,” referring to the goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
But what the Guardian buried at the bottom of their story on the contretemps was Al-Jaber’s next sentence: “A phase-down and a phase-out of fossil fuels in my view is inevitable. That is essential. But we need to be real, serious, and pragmatic about it.”
He followed up by asking Robinson for concrete solutions:
I don’t think Mary 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. What we need here is solutions. Show me the solutions. Stop pointing fingers. Show me what you can do. Show me your own contributions.
The thing is, those like Robinson who would dictate what others need to do are not bothered by (literally) flying in the face of their own advice. Not without virtue signaling, of course.
Knowing all eyes are on their private flights — which are a dramatic form of transportation pollution — these climate crusaders are fighting climate change by filling their private jets with sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).
In a New York Times opinion piece this past weekend entitled ‘How I Invest My Money in a Warming World’, Bill Gates wrote:
If you fly in a private jet, as I do, you can afford the extra cost of sustainable aviation fuel made from low-carbon crops and waste. You’ll not only lower your own emissions; you’ll also help drive demand for clean fuel, which will increase the supply and eventually make it cheap enough to use more widely in commercial aircraft. That will be a game changer for reducing emissions from long-distance air travel, which remains one of the toughest climate problems.
Likewise, when faced with criticism that the British government sent multiple private jets to COP at taxpayers’ expense (one each for the Prime Minister, the Foreign Minister, and the King) Prime Minister Rishi Sunak assured the public that his plane will use 30 per cent sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).
Greenwashing is a real thing, and Bill Gates and the merry collection of private-flying Brits prove it:
What’s SAF, you ask? A type of biofuel made from plant or animal materials that still has to be blended with traditional, fossil fuel-based aviation fuel. Current rules state that SAF can make up a maximum of 50% of the mixture.
Excellent. It’s being widely used, right? Nope. A briefing for the European Parliament shows a range of statistics including a report from the International Energy Agency that bio-based fuel accounted for less than 0.1% of total aviation fuel consumption in 2018. A 2019 study from the European Aviation Safety Agency put the figure at just 0.004% of total jet fuel used by commercial operators worldwide.
OK. OK. But SAF is sustainable, isn’t it? Not so fast. The sheer amount of land required to grow the crops is hardly sustainable. An August 2023 research report stated that “large-scale SAF deployment could undermine global climate efforts as aviation mitigation may be a form of energy cannibalism.” The Independent reported that “in terms of inedible animal fat, T&E (Transport and Environment), Europe’s leading NGO campaigning for cleaner transport, calculates: ‘A flight from Paris to New York needs 8,800 dead pigs.’”
So what’s the point of all this? Al-Jaber spoke his truth, a truth we should all hear and understand, to Mary Robinson:
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. Give me the solution.
COP28 is going to be a different COP, alright! See you in the caves.