Dr. Sultan Al-Jaber, the COP28 President from the United Arab Emirates, has said that there is “no science” supporting the call to phase out fossil fuels. The Telegraph has more.
Dr. Sultan Al-Jaber, who also heads the state oil company Adnoc, said the phase-out of fossil fuels was not necessary to achieve the Paris Agreement target of limiting warming to 1.5°C during a meeting in the run-up to the summit.
“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,” he said in response to a question from Mary Robinson, the former Irish President.
Dr. Al-Jaber, who is also head of the renewable energy company Masdar, suggested that a phase-out of fossil fuels would mean countries missing out on “sustainable socioeconomic development” and could not be achieved “unless you want to take the world back into caves”.
He added that a “phase-down and a phase-out of fossil fuels is inevitable, it is essential, but we need to be real, serious and pragmatic about it”.
His comments are at odds with messaging from the UN, which convenes the COP28 summit.
On Friday, Antonio Guterres, the UN chief, called for a total oil and gas phase-out. “Not reduce. Not abate. Phase out – with a clear timeframe aligned with 1.5 degrees,” he said.
The comments from Dr. Al-Jaber were seized upon by climate activists, who pointed to several reports that find phasing out fossil fuels is necessary to stick to the Paris Agreement goals, including a new report released on Sunday.
Worth reading in full.
This fits perfectly Michael Kinsley’s famous definition of a ‘gaffe’: “A gaffe is when a politician tells the truth – some obvious truth he isn’t supposed to say.”
Stop Press: In the Telegraph, Peter Lilley, one of the ‘Infamous Five’ who voted against the Climate Change Act in 2008, says that even the IPCC acknowledges that the consequences of doing nothing to reduce carbon emissions will be far from catastrophic. Surely, it’s time for a rethink on Net Zero? Worth reading in full.
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‘kin hell!
I don’t know about gaffe more like a bomb. This will get buried PDQ. Actually so might Dr Al Jaber. Did he miss rehearsals?
Haha…That probably got them triggered!
Yup, pretty sure they’ll bury him somehow. I don’t believe our media will examine this. They’ll accuse him of something.
I would like to be proved incorrect, but I long ago stopped believing in Santa and the Tooth Fairy, so I should be realistic.
A rare piece of good news. I’ll take it!
I searched the BBC news website – all they are reporting is that his country intends to increase oil production. I suppose the BBC expect us to be outraged.
I was listening to Radio 2 and the news reported what the good Dr said almost verbatim. However they then had some guy from the green blob saying that we have 150 years of data and the scientists all agree blah blah blah.
Of course the BBC has to provide “context” and “balance” and correct possible disinformation
‘Kin hell’ indeed , its wonderful to know that no matter your race, colour or creed, common sense is as common as we all wish it to be. And it will win out in the end, fads and fashions come and go, but, they will be heartily guffawed at by generations to come!
Brilliant comment from Dr Sultan Al Jaber. The host of COP28. So what do the scum like Antonio Guterres, the UN chief, do? get back in their fleet of private jets and clear off ?
So did they expect that their nice warm retreat where they could indulge their fantasies would not reject the extremes of their narrative ??
I’ve worked with ADNOC. A practical down to earth company.
More stuff you won’t hear from the BBC …
Reported in the Grauniad! And he ain’t wrong!
So there is some point to COP28 after all.
A short step now to elaborating that there is no science that shows we can have any discernible effect on the climate whatsoever…..
I rarely align with an Arab but, in this case, I agree with him. ….except for his last bit about having to phase out fossil fuels. That is garbage for the next 100 years.
So true – the ‘science’ they so love to repeat ad infinitum is nothing but bunkum! So was the covid ‘science’ – it was a money spinner for many.
As I said here the other day an Old Boy at my former school is attending COP 28 the reason as reported in the school newsletter?
. Nick H***** who is playing a leading role in bringing together the world of finance, industry, government, academic institutions, and other global bodies to try and develop sustainable solutions.
So nothing to do with “climate change” lots to do with making money. Surprise surprise,
I suspect this will have the complete opposite effect to what we hope…
“…the head of state oil company Adnoc”…
I can already see the counter arguements saying “well of course he’d say that! He is Big Oil”, and their reasoning wouldn’t be wrong considering the shit we’ve put up with from Big Pharma…
Doesn’t matter one bit if he’s correct either.
The counter arguments are already in the Guardian and what insubstantial, risible hot air they are, of course.
Nevertheless it has sparked a heated debate and made, unfortunately, amongst others, our monarch look blinkered and foolish, perhaps even the full tonto, batshit crazy.
The UK monarchy doesn’t appear to have the best interests of the average citizen in its support of this climate craziness and lowering of living standards. At what point will the average citizen stop supporting the monarchy? I was thinking of a King John moment, except the elites do support this craziness. American revolution at best, French or Russian at worst.
The monarchy has never had any interests but its own.
Historically, their ‘subjects’ were only useful when they needed soldiers. Otherwise, they’re either a burden or a reason to push an agenda.
You have put your finger on it, exactly.
The King’s mother and her mother, and indeed Queen Mary before them, knew very well the importance of the average citizen.
Her late Majesty, The Queen had worked with some good eggs in the Royal Air Force during WW2. Her mother had looked after the recovering wounded during WW1. Queen Mary had a relatively normal upbringing before marrying into the Royal Family (and had a natural way).
The King is a good man but he (and the charismatic Prince and Princess of Wales) must take care.
Everyone wants a favourite Uncle, not a Baptist preacher
Cos those Green Tech billionaires are benign, altruistic teddy-bears. They just want to wrestle the wealth and power from the oil barons; same shit, different faces. I’ll back the lesser of the two evils; at least oil generates wealth as opposed to making hay in subsidies off the tax payer’s back.
“unless you want to take the world back into caves”. But it won’t be taking the world back into caves as the elites won’t be going back to the caves. Can you see anal schwab wanting to live inb a cave? The rest of us inb stone huts- yes. but not the ultra wealthy.
Correct, they’ll be just enough fossil fuel production left for them to live their lives the way they are accustomed to!
Still jetting off to COP summits in the year 2050 while the rest of us can’t afford to travel!
Net Zero great leap backwards
latest leaflet to print at home and deliver to neighbours or forward to politicians, media, friends online.
DIDN’T HE GET THE MEMO?!
Edit, I see Huxley beat me to it (again)
Thanks MAk
Haven’t the King, Cameron and PM all gone in separate jets, and have been criticised for doing so. His Fishiness has said it is not a problem as they do not plan to stop people flying. Firstly- where have I heard that before? If I remember they were not planning to introduce vax passports. Secondly, nobody will be able to fly as how are we going to get there if there are no cars?
Not related but this just happened in the Red Sea;
”The Pentagon made the announcement as a British ship was reportedly hit by rocket fire in Red Sea off Yemen coast. Drone activity has also been reported in the area which separates East Africa from the Arabian Peninsula.
An American warship and multiple commercial ships came under attack on Sunday in the Red Sea, the Pentagon said, potentially marking a major escalation in a series of maritime attacks in the Mideast linked to the Israel-Hamas war.
“We’re aware of reports regarding attacks on the USS Carney and commercial vessels in the Red Sea and will provide information as it becomes available,” the Pentagon said.
The Carney is an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer.
Earlier on Sunday, British maritime security agency United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) indicated that it had received a report concerning the activity of a drone, “including a potential explosion”, “near Bab el Mandeb coming from the direction of Yemen”.
The Pentagon did not identify where it believed the fire came from. However, Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels have been launching a series of attacks on vessels in the Red Sea, as well as launching drones and missiles targeting Israel as it wages war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.”
https://www.euronews.com/2023/12/03/british-military-reports-explosion-off-the-coast-of-yemen-in-the-key-bab-el-mandeb-strait
Not related Mogs? It’s just round the corner from UAE!
It comes to something when the COP President from the UAE is more honest than the British Prime Minister.
Anyone who publicly ridicules the credentials, character and thoughts of Dr Sultan Al Jaber is a racist
Seeing this guy standing right next to John Kerry is like the Klu Klux Klan standing next to Martin Luther King. ———All the phony planet savers will say immediately that this guy is only trying to protect profits and has an agenda. But what makes them think government have no agenda? Ofcourse they do. It is called Sustainable Development ( Oh how lovely, a world run by unelected technocrats) And what makes them think Wind and Solar industry has no interest in profit.? ——-And their profit comes out of the pockets of taxpayers who pay for the green crap out of their electric bills. The fossil fuels that power 85 % of the world do what it says on the tin. They provide energy all day every day.
“Wind and solar” = pixie farts and sunbeams!
“The consequences of doing nothing to reduce carbon emissions will be far from catastrophic”.
Well, exactly. And conversely, the consequences of ridding the atmosphere of as much CO2 as possible, as the UAE Cop president suggests with his “carbon dioxide removal technologies”, will be absolutely catastrophic – suffocating vegetation with dangerously low levels of CO2!
Are the nations who are so eager to relinquish their fossil fuel industries, happy to sit by and watch as China and India – who will continue to produce them at much larger scales – take over as global economic powerhouses as us clean, green fools in the West languish at their mercy?