COP28, the United Nations’ climate change conference is currently being held in Dubai, where the world’s best and brightest have gathered. However, climate scientists and advocates are criticizing the proposed solutions at the conference, labeling them as distractions or even alarming. They specifically point out the inclusion of topics like solar panel on yacht as “responsible yachting” for this criticism.
Interestingly, the COP28 conference is being overseen by Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, who not only serves as the head of Dubai but also manages the national oil company of the United Arab Emirates. This raises concerns as it appears to be a significant conflict of interest.
Oil companies in the Middle East and the United States have made significant investments in carbon removal technologies. While these technologies show promise in combating climate change, some experts believe that relying solely on them is futile and that other solutions are necessary.
The Global Carbon Budget assessed the effectiveness of costly carbon capture and removal projects promoted by oil industry leaders and technology entrepreneurs at COP28. The findings have been highly unfavorable, as these technologies have only managed to remove a minuscule fraction of the carbon emissions currently being produced.
These technologies are a distraction, a way to pretend we are dealing with the issue, but we aren’t.
A new report by the German non-governmental organization Climate Analytics has warned that an additional 86 billion tons of carbon could be released into the atmosphere if these technologies under-perform after further investment, and a separate Oxford study found that it would cost a trillion dollars per year to build them out to scale.
“We have housing insulation, we have electric vehicles, we have renewables, we have batteries. Scaling them up will not be that difficult, but elimination of fossil fuel pollution is absolutely the biggest and most important way to turn back the tide on the worst of what climate change has in store.”
Reference- The Guardian, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Oxford study, Climate Analytics report