Written by by Leslie Eastman at legalinsurrection.com
The United Nations Climate Conference in Dubai (Conference of Parties 28 (COP28)) has officially wrapped-up.
Predictably, the media is hyping the agreement that features the “transitioning away from fossil fuels.” Yet the wording contains significant loopholes.
The consensus statement, agreed by nearly 200 countries at the conference in Dubai on 13 December, calls on countries to contribute to global efforts to transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems “in a just, orderly and equitable manner, accelerating action in this critical decade, so as to achieve net zero by 2050 in keeping with the science.” (emphasis mine)
Countries can count “carbon offsets” and still use fossil fuels. Furthermore, over the past few decades, we have been treated to a number of different interpretations of “the Science™” (e.g., the ice age of the 1970’s, and snow-free futures in the 1990’s). But it appears real science may have won the day, as “in keeping with the science,” the agreement recognizes fossil fuels cannot be effectively “phased-out” in the foreseeable future.
As I noted in a previous post, the “Iron Law of Electricity” states that people, businesses, and countries will do whatever they have to do to get the electricity they need. Interestingly, the COP28 agreement didn’t even force countries to end the use of the most demonized of fossil fuels, coal. And, in terms of energy production, coal is still king. . . with over a third of the world’s electricity coming from that energy efficient source.