Will COP28 deliver a pledge to phase out fossil fuels?
The Energy Gang
Wood Mackenzie
4.6 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 5 December 2023
⏱️ 47 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
At the halfway point of this year’s climate negotiations at COP28, the focus is still on the proposal that the world’s governments should commit to phasing out fossil fuels. Discussion on the best way forward is still going on; fossil fuels are responsible for the majority of human-induced climate change, and so the world has to stop using them. But as concerns over energy security continue, some say that the debate should not be around fossil fuels v renewables, but rather low-emissions v high-emissions. Is CCUS the technology that will enable continued use of fossil fuels, or is our only option a world powered by 100% renewable and nuclear energy?
To discuss this, and to analyze the biggest talking points of today’s talks, Ed is joined by Maria Mendiluce, CEO of the We Mean Business Coalition, which aims to mobilize and guide companies of all sizes on a path to net zero. Maria argues that a complete phase-out of fossil fuels is needed to get the world on course to limit global warming to 1.5 degees C. She wants the governments meeting at COP28 to agree on a commitment to achieve that.
Kelly Sims Gallagher also joins the show. She’s the Dean of the Fletcher School at Tufts University, and has been following these climate negotiations since she attended COP2 in 1996. She explains what she expects from this year’s talks and where she thinks COP28 will come out on the future of fossil fuels.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to the Energy Gang coming to you from the COP28 climate talks in |
| 0:06.7 | Dubai. |
| 0:07.7 | I'm in Crooks. |
| 0:09.7 | So we're halfway through the talks now and it's now becoming clear what's going to be the big issue in the negotiations for the remainder of the conference. |
| 0:19.0 | It's the question of whether the governments of the world will agree to make a commitment to phase out the use of fossil fuels over time. |
| 0:26.0 | On the one hand you have people who say fossil fuels are responsible for the great majority of human-induced global warming, |
| 0:31.0 | and so the world has to stop using them. |
| 0:33.0 | And on the other side you have people arguing that the real issue is not so much fossil |
| 0:36.1 | versus non-fossil fuels, but high emissions versus low emissions energy. |
| 0:40.0 | And there can still be a role for fossil fuels in the long term in a zero emissions world |
| 0:44.0 | thanks to carbon capture. Someone who's arguing the case for a complete phase out is Maria |
| 0:48.5 | Mindelousie. She's the chief executive of the We Mean Business Coalition, which is a business group that's here at COP 28 urging |
| 0:55.0 | world leaders to set goals for phasing out fossil fuels on a time scale that would put the |
| 0:59.4 | world on course to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. |
| 1:03.0 | It is the flavor of the cop, because it is clear that burning fossil fuels are the cause of climate change. |
| 1:10.0 | No one denies that. |
| 1:12.0 | And so if we want to tackle climate change, |
| 1:15.0 | we need to stop burning fossil fuels. |
| 1:18.0 | We'll hear my interview with Maria Mendelousse in full |
| 1:20.0 | later in this episode. |
| 1:22.0 | But first, I discussed the issue of the debate |
| 1:23.8 | over phasing out fossil fuels and the conclusions of the cop with Kelly Sims |
... |
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