DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — COP28 President Sultan al-Jaber’s controversial remarks that “no science” exhibits a fossil gas phaseout is required to hit local weather objectives could require “clarification,” U.S. local weather envoy John Kerry instructed POLITICO.
Kerry’s remarks — his first response because the Guardian printed al-Jaber’s feedback on Sunday — present the U.S. diplomat is just not withdrawing his long-standing help for the COP28 chief, regardless of ongoing considerations about al-Jaber’s different position as CEO of ADNOC, the UAE’s state-owned mega oil agency.
“Look, he is gotta resolve how he needs to phrase it, however the backside line is that this COP must be dedicated to phasing out all unabated fossil gas,” Kerry instructed POLITICO’s Energy Play podcast with Anne McElvoy.
Talking throughout a web-based occasion in November, al-Jaber stated there was no scientific foundation to conclude {that a} fossil gas phaseout is required to limit international heating to 1.5 levels Celsius — probably the most bold goal of the Paris Settlement. Kerry tried to contextualize the remarks.
“What I believe he was saying, and perhaps it got here out the flawed means, I do not know; I believe he was saying that the science doesn’t dictate the methodology that it’s a must to use,” he stated. “It’s a must to select between many alternative methods of doing it. Perhaps it occurs by way of carbon seize, perhaps it doesn’t” — a reference to the largely unproven know-how that removes emissions earlier than they enter the environment.
Along with al-Jaber’s dismissal of the science supporting a fossil gas phaseout — a stance local weather scientists shortly disputed — the COP28 president has additionally taken warmth for leaked paperwork indicating the UAE deliberate to make use of the summit to push fossil gas offers, allegations al-Jaber strenuously denied.
Kerry has tried to stroll a advantageous line for months with al-Jaber. He has embraced the selection to place an oil govt atop the local weather talks, arguing it might assist convey the trade to the desk to barter much-needed cuts to greenhouse fuel air pollution. However the help has stood out amid the flood of dissent from local weather advocates and scores of lawmakers within the U.S. and EU.
In his remarks on the on-line occasion, al-Jaber additionally argued that phasing out fossil fuels wouldn’t permit sustainable improvement “except you wish to take the world again into caves.”
Kerry inspired folks to hearken to al-Jaber’s phrases at COP28 itself, which started final Thursday in Dubai and runs by way of mid-December: “I heard him definitively say in his opening feedback to all the COP that he’s dedicated to 1.5 levels and that we have to do all of the issues essential to implement that.”
When requested whether or not he would advise al-Jaber to make clear his remarks, Kerry stated: ”Perhaps there will be a clarification. I do not know, however I do know that the COP president’s place is that we’ve to attain 1.5 levels, and he has stated that time and again.”
On Monday, al-Jaber did provide some clarification in his first public look because the report was printed. He took photographs on the media portrayal of his feedback, which he stated ignored his earlier remarks that it’s ”inevitable” and ”important” for the world to maneuver off of fossil fuels.
”One assertion will get taken out of context with misrepresentation and misinterpretation — that will get most protection,” he stated throughout a press convention.
Al-Jaber stated the world should shave international emissions 43 p.c this decade to have an opportunity at hitting the 1.5 levels Celsius aim. On that time, he stated he thought he had been ”crystal clear.”
“Let me simply make clear the place I stand on the science — I hope this time it will get picked up,” he confused. “I’m fairly shocked on the fixed try and undermine this message.”
Jim Skea, who chairs the authoritative local weather science physique the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Local weather Change, additionally defended al-Jaber through the press convention. Seated to the COP president’s left, Skea stated al-Jaber has been ”attentive” by way of one-on-one conferences concerning the science.
Nonetheless, al-Jaber is dealing with ongoing criticism for failing to deal with the UAE’s personal rise in oil manufacturing. ADNOC could drill 42 p.c extra by 2030, in accordance with latest projections.
Talking to POLITICO, Kerry agreed that the UAE should “reduce [oil and gas production], and all people must be lowering provide and demand.”
U.S. oil manufacturing, after all, additionally hit an all-time excessive this 12 months.
Al-Jaber has staked his credibility on performing as a realistic dealer between local weather negotiators and the oil and fuel trade, the place he’s a significant participant. Over the weekend he revealed the fruits of that work: an alliance of fifty firms pledging to cut back their emissions.
However on Sunday, U.N. Secretary-Common António Guterres pooh-poohed the trouble. “The guarantees made clearly fall quick of what’s required,” he stated, noting the failure to deal with emissions from later burning the trade’s oil and fuel.
“Integrity actually issues,” stated Guterres. “So there should be no room for greenwashing. And this additionally applies to what has been introduced yesterday.”
You possibly can hearken to the full interview with John Kerry on Energy Play on Thursday.
Karl Mathiesen contributed reporting.