There are a number of bad actors making the rounds of meetings at the climate summit.
Calling for a coal phase-out and a global end to fossil fuel subsidies are entirely practical goals. In fact, in two reports this year, Net Zero by 2050: A Roadmap for the Global Energy Sector, and the World Energy Outlook 2021, the fossil trade organization disguised as an intergovernmental agency, the International Energy Agency, said the whole world could feasibly go to zero emissions in the energy sector by 2050. The IEA said solar and wind could provide more than 70% of all energy used and the other 30% could be made up by tripling energy efficiency across all economic sectors; ie: using less.
There is still some sand in the gears. This COP has not yet concluded or made any final determination for setting carbon pricing and verifying the markets, ending investment in new fossil infrastructure by 2025, ending fossil subsidies, or aiding underdeveloping countries to make a just transition. There are a number of bad actors making the rounds of meetings in Glasgow with the express intention of prolonging fossil hegemony for as long as they can.
One expects that sort of sand from the deserts of the Middle East but you would think countries like Australia and Mexico have gotten religion on climate change by now. Apparently not. Australia has no plans to reduce emissions or phase out fossil fuels. Just before going to Scotland, the Australia PM approved three new coal projects and opened ten new areas for offshore exploration. He declined to sign the Global Methane Pledge. He put electric vehicles on a back shelf. In Glasgow Australia announced it would invest US$740 million from its Green Bank in discredited and disproven Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) scrubbers for coal plants. While it is not Saudi Arabia, it is investing in a sandy future for its continent.
México’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador made no secret that as the son of an oil field worker he would do whatever he needed to resuscitate the dying Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) national oil company. He has been saying this from when he first launched into politics. He has kept his promises. México is pumping more, not less, money into the fossil fuel industry, building oil refineries and delaying emissions reductions. It is ranked as the 13th…
