“The United Nations climate conference known as COP28 ended early this morning with a first-ever agreement calling on nations to transition away from fossil fuels, the main cause of climate change. COP28 president Sultan al-Jaber called the plan a “historic package to accelerate climate action.” But some countries say it doesn’t go far enough to address the threats climate change poses, especially to developing countries.”
This was in my news feed this morning, an agreement made in Dubai of all places, and it made me think about whether this was an agreement from the “oil lobby” to get people off their backs or real, substantial progress? First, the world is not close to being ready to walk away from fossil fuels for power generation, and may never be in my lifetime. Second, there is so much wiggle room and actions TBD, the dreaded words that mean that it will maybe never be determined (NBD). I assume the devil will be in the details. Any progress made is progress but lip service is not progress and if the climate scientists are right, we don’t have the time for lip service.
Fossil fuels and power generation have been so closely linked that it is going to be hard to break that link, and while we should all be encouraged by any progress toward that goal, the fossil fuel industry is not just going to walk away from their cash cow. What is the incentive to do so? While it is clearly beneficial to all of the planets people, including every person involved with the oil & gas industry, money plays a critical role in when and how the link will be broken. Thoughts?