Last Thursday, November 30th, the 28th annual United Nations Climate Change Conference (or Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC) was kicked off in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The cool kids simply call it COP28.
This year’s conference is the hottest climate event in 2023. Eighty thousand attendees are reportedly there. I understand the appeal. Dubai is a warm, inviting, and modern city. I don’t blame conferencegoers for jetting there, except when they bemoan air travel for us plebeians. But the selection of the UAE and this year’s conference chair, Sultan al-Jaber, has made climate alarmists more unhinged than usual.
Extinction Rebellion UK said, “Despite over 130 lawmakers urging the UN to remove Al Jaber as president of #COP28 due to being CEO and founder of ADNOC - a company who has the largest net-zero-busting expansion plans of any company in the world - he has remained centre stage.”
And unsurprisingly, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres - who benefits from fossil fuel usage yet calls for eliminating them - doubled down on decarbonization, tweeting, “We can't save a burning planet with a firehose of fossil fuels. We must accelerate a just, equitable transition to renewables. The science is clear: The 1.5°C warming limit is only possible if we stop burning fossil fuels. Not reduce. Not abate. Phase out.”
This anti-fossil fuel rhetoric, however, is not the craziest observation from this year’s summit.
One proposal is a “non-binding” net-zero plan for global meat consumption. The UN wants it to align with the 2015 Paris Climate Accords. This proposal stems from the July 2023 COP28 Food Systems and Agriculture Agenda.
Billed as a “global food systems’ road map to 1.5C,” the United Nations’ Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO) will “tell” rich nations to scale down agriculture practices on “equity” grounds while giving developing nations with worse environmental footprints a pass.
“The world’s most-developed nations will be told to curb their excessive appetite for meat as part of the first comprehensive plan to bring the global agrifood industry into line with the Paris climate agreement,” Bloomberg reported. “Nations that over-consume meat will be advised to limit their intake, while developing countries — where under-consumption of meat adds to a prevalent nutrition challenge — will need to improve their livestock farming, according to the FAO.”
But the outlet observed, “The guidance on meat is intended to send a clear message to governments. But politicians in richer nations typically shy away from policies aimed at influencing consumer behavior, especially where it involves cutting consumption of everyday items.”
Our media and elected Democrats have dismissed similar efforts like this as a Republican culture war. Except it’s not. NYC wants to reduce food-based emissions–including that of meat– by 33%. Scientific American says eating unquestionable plant-based meat will fight the climate crisis–a sentiment echoed by The Guardian, The Hill, Harvard University, and preservationist environment group Center for Biological Diversity, among many searchable public endorsements calling for red meat phaseouts.
Another concerning item is a petition circulating in Dubai calling to shut down U.S. natural gas production. Fox News reports a letter boasting the signature of Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) is the source of this effort.
"At COP26, the United States and 39 governments and institutions signed the Glasgow Statement, pledging to prioritize the clean energy transition and end new direct public support for the international fossil fuel sector by 2022," the letter states. "This is the very least we can do, considering that even existing production capacities already exceed the limits set by the Paris Agreement."
The report continued: “The letter further argues that while liquefied natural gas (LNG) — natural gas that has been cooled to enable easier transport — was originally looked to as a means to "tackle the consequences of the global energy crisis," additional LNG capacity is "not needed." Climate advocates have long opposed LNG and natural gas production since, when burned for power production, it produces greenhouse gas emissions.”
The letter, Fox adds, will be finalized and published during the conference in concert with the "Global Parliamentary Inquiry on the Progress of the Fossil Fuel Phase-out."
Natural gas is clean, affordable, and essential for daily life. It also ensures energy security and has lower emissions. No wonder why the decarboniser hates it.
The third concerning proposal is a new $250 billion fund called Alterra to fuel “smart” climate investments in the Global South. Alterra will be chaired by the aforementioned COP28 Chair, Sultan al-Jaber, who heads Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) as chief executive. CNBC reports the fund will “direct private markets towards climate investments,” emphasizing “energy transition, industrial decarbonization, and climate technology.” The host nation reportedly will pitch in $30 billion of that $250 billion amount.
This is in response to the oil and gas hub's criticism for leading climate talks at this year’s summit. Reports suggest the UAE is, ironically, using the annual climate conference to lobby for more oil and gas development deals.
Climate pledges do little to bolster the environment except for inviting energy insecurity and poverty while inviting lectures from eco-hypocrites who have big individual footprints.
Governments worldwide are greenlighting more fossil fuel production despite these flashy proclamations of going net-zero and pledging decarbonization. Perhaps it’s because renewables, even with subsidies and government backing, don’t power efficiently, are unreliable, and have a worse environmental footprint.
COP28 might be far away, but the impact could be felt here should these proposals be adopted.