UN secretary-general António Guterres attacked the oil and gas industry attempts to justify fossil fuel expansion with carbon capture technology as “proposals to become more efficient planet wreckers”, in a speech that appeared to be take aim at the UAE hosts of COP28, the Financial Times reported.
The industry’s stated plans to deal largely with the emissions behind global warming by capturing them, rather than phasing out production, were undermining the climate agenda, Guterres said.
The UAE COP28 president-designate Sultan al-Jaber, who is also the head of the state oil company ADNOC, has consistently reflected the industry view that the focus should be on the control of emissions.
“Let’s face facts. The problem is not simply fossil fuel emissions. It’s fossil fuels — period,” Guterres said.
“We are hurtling towards disaster, eyes wide open, with far too many willing to bet it all on wishful thinking, unproven technologies and silver bullet solutions.”
Guterres noted that for every dollar the industry spent on oil and gas drilling and exploration, only 4 cents went to clean energy and carbon capture combined. “Trading the future for thirty pieces of silver is immoral,” he said. He added on Thursday that his comments were “not aimed at any one individual” but were an appeal to “those who have the power to change”, urging fossil fuel companies to shift their entire business to renewable energy.
