{"id":50373,"date":"2024-03-22T18:03:55","date_gmt":"2024-03-22T18:03:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/?p=50373"},"modified":"2024-03-22T19:00:38","modified_gmt":"2024-03-22T19:00:38","slug":"climate-leaders-oil-bosses-pitch-alternate-energy-transition-realities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2024\/03\/22\/climate-leaders-oil-bosses-pitch-alternate-energy-transition-realities\/","title":{"rendered":"Climate leaders, oil bosses pitch alternate energy-transition realities"},"content":{"rendered":"

Helsing\u00f8r and Houston are separated by just over 8,000 kilometres – but when it came to sending out signals on the energy transition this week, the two cities appeared to exist on entirely different planets.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the Danish port city, as dozens of ministers fired the starting gun on the annual climate diplomacy race, the focus was on putting December’s landmark Cop28 decision<\/a> into practice. In Dubai, governments agreed for the first time to start shifting away from fossil fuels. But officials are now contemplating how to make that work in the real world – and, crucially, who will pay for it.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, in oil and gas-rich Texas, top fossil fuel executives took to the stage at the energy industry conference CERAWeek, where they cast doubt on the transition away from fossil fuels agreed at Cop28, with Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser calling<\/a> it a \u201cfantasy\u201d.<\/p>\n

In the courts, Republican-led US states sued<\/a> the Biden administration over its recent decision to pause new approvals for fossil gas exports.<\/p>\n

Energy transition crossroads<\/h3>\n

For climate policy observers, these opposing forces are not entirely surprising.<\/p>\n

Romain Ioualalen, global policy manager at campaign group Oil Change International, said the Cop28 decision puts the fossil fuel industry at a crossroads: either it pours more investment into renewable energy, or it doubles down on oil, gas and coal in a bid to undermine the green shift as much as possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seems to have chosen the latter – and unless governments immediately intervene to end fossil fuel expansion, people and planet will pay the price,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Pushing for faster adoption of clean energy certainly appears to be the intention on the international climate policy stage, where the political machinery is clanking back into gear after what Danish climate minister Dan J\u00f8<\/span><\/span>rgensen dubbed “historic progress” in Dubai.<\/p>\n

\u201cImportant decisions have been made on the action,” he told the start of the Danish summit. “Now, how do we pay for it?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Cop28 president, Sultan Al Jaber, delivers remarks at the Copenhagen Climate Ministerial, flanked by Cop29 incoming president Mukhtar Babayev. REUTERS\/Ali Withers<\/p><\/div>\n

The question of finding money for the energy transition in developing countries will be front and centre this year as countries need to agree on a “new collective quantified goal” (NCQG) for climate finance at Cop29 in November, which will kick in from next year.<\/p>\n

The battle lines are already drawn<\/a>: developing nations want their richer counterparts to stump up the highest amount of cash with the fewest strings attached. Developed countries want other governments, including China and fossil fuel-rich Gulf nations, to join the list of donors.<\/p>\n

The size of the money pot – and the conditions to tap into it – will be particularly important for emerging economies. They want help to finance the costly emission-slashing measures they are being asked to take.<\/p>\n

For Mukhtar Babayev, Azerbaijan\u2019s incoming Cop29 president, the negotiations on the new finance goal represent an opportunity to rebuild trust. Unlocking more funds, he told fellow ministers in Denmark, \u201cwill empower all parties to raise the ambition\u201d of their upcoming climate plans.<\/p>\n

Cop Troika urges “high-ambition” NDCs<\/h3>\n

The updated nationally determined contributions (NDCs) that all countries have been asked to submit by early 2025 was the other main talking point in Denmark on Thursday and Friday.<\/p>\n

The so-called \u2018Troika\u2019 of the hosts of Cop28 (UAE), Cop29 (Azerbaijan) and Cop30 (Brazil) has tasked itself with building momentum and prompting countries to get moving.<\/p>\n

On the eve of the Danish summit, the Cop presidencies sent a letter<\/a> to all parties calling for \u201cearly submissions of high ambition NDCs that decisively take forward the UAE Consensus [the agreement struck in Dubai]\u201d.<\/p>\n

UN\u2019s climate body<\/strong> faces \u201csevere financial challenges\u201d which put work at risk<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Troika \u201cwill aim to raise and reframe ambition for the development process\u201d of the national climate action blueprints, pushing for more support, resources and finance, it added.<\/p>\n

But the missive did not go down well with developed countries – and, above all, with the United States.<\/p>\n

Its deputy special envoy for climate Sue Biniaz said she was \u201cquite surprised\u201d at the Troika\u2019s suggestion that this year’s “focus on NDCs should be all about support\u201d and that the Cop hosts defined a “high ambition NDC” for developed countries as one that includes finance for developing countries. Using that kind of wording could be “highly prejudicial” to climate finance negotiations, she warned.<\/p>\n

Do as I say, not as I do
\n<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In the letter, the Cop host governments also pledged to demonstrate their own commitment by submitting NDCs that are aligned with the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to 1.5C.<\/p>\n

That announcement raised some eyebrows. The UAE and Brazil have some of the world\u2019s biggest plans<\/a> to expand fossil fuel production between now and 2050, while Azerbaijan’s economy primarily relies on fossil fuel extraction and it is poised to hike<\/a> gas exports.<\/p>\n

African dismay<\/strong> at decision to host loss and damage advice hub in Geneva<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Those intentions clash with what the International Energy Agency (IEA) says is required<\/a> to remain on a 1.5C trajectory: fossil fuel demand needs to fall 80% by 2050, meaning no new upstream oil and gas projects are needed, as of now.<\/p>\n

Harjeet Singh of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative said that discrepancy “raises serious questions about the alignment between [the Troika’s] words and their actions\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese countries must disentangle themselves from fossil fuel interests and lead climate action by example, pressuring wealthier nations that continue to shirk their historic and moral responsibilities,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Fossil fuel reality check<\/h3>\n

The rhetoric coming from the fossil fuel industry assembled at Houston’s CERAWeek suggests strong pressure will be needed.<\/p>\n

Saudi Aramco CEO Nasser called for more, not less, investment in oil and gas, as he claimed that the current energy transition strategy is “visibly failing on most fronts”.<\/p>\n

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President and CEO, Amin Nasser, asserts at #CERAWeek<\/a> 2024 that energy consumers around the world need lower-carbon energy with minimal disruptions to their daily lives and calls for a new, multi-source, multi-speed, and multi-dimensional road to a realistic transition#aramco<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/OEkQvuK9HD<\/a><\/p>\n

— aramco (@aramco) March 19, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n