COP28 climate change summit's warm words must not prove to be empty – Scotsman comment

Despite declaring the ‘beginning of the end’ for fossil fuels, the UK still plans to ‘max out’ North Sea oil and gas

In a “historic” step, nations have, for the first time, agreed that the world should “transition away” from fossil fuels in an attempt to stave off the imminent arrival of dangerous climate change. As a declaration, it is about three decades late and cynics may wonder whether they will next announce that the Earth does indeed revolve around the Sun. However, the agreement reached at the COP28 climate summit is progress, at least in the rhetoric.

The problem is that, ever since the first COP in 1995, there have been summits hailed as tremendous successes and others deemed abject failures but, regardless of these diplomatic highs and lows, the relentless rise of greenhouse gas emissions has continued. This year is set to be the warmest on record, with temperatures between January and October about 1.43C warmer than pre-industrial times, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service.

This has been boosted by the natural El Nino effect, but efforts to prevent the long-term average from charging towards 1.5C have, thus far, proved ineffective. Judged on the results, the COP process has been a dismal failure and more of the same is simply not going to cut it.

Like other delegates, UK climate minister Graham Stuart declared the agreement was “the beginning of the end of the fossil fuel era” but it seems the deal will have no impact on Rishi Sunak’s plan to “max out” North Sea oil and gas. “Transitioning away” from fossil fuels by burning them all as quickly as possible is one way to do it, but hardly in the spirit of the agreement. Heaven help future generations if all the world’s oil-producing countries take the same approach.

The outcome of COP28 may have an influence on the financial sector’s level of interest. There has been much talk about “stranded assets” and that fear will grow as extreme weather becomes increasingly difficult to ignore. With politicians declaring “the beginning of the end”, minds may become increasingly focussed on the energy markets of the future.

However, what the world needs now is action on climate change, not expensive talking shops, self-congratulatory politicians and warm, but empty, words.