A fortnight before the commencement of the COP 28 Climate Summit in Abu Dhabi, there is evidence that an agreement on the phasing out of fossil fuel remains on centre stage, the occupancy by the United Arab Emirates of a strong strategic position at the summit table notwithstanding. As the opening of the summit draws closer, the research, communications, and advocacy organization named Oil Change International, which focuses on exposing the true costs of fossil fuels and facilitating the ongoing transition to clean energy, has signaled its intention to mount a pushback against what has been appearing, increasingly, to be a robust intervention by the fossil fuel lobby to use COP 28 to seek to place the climate change lobby in mothballs.
The group, which says that its advocacy is “rooted in community solidarity and principled policy analysis”, claims the backing of a group of countries “including France, Spain, Ireland, Kenya, and 11 other countries” all of which, it says, are calling for “a phase out of fossil fuel production, as well as an agreement to end new oil and gas explorations while tripling renewable energy and doubling energy efficiency.” Oil Change International is of the view that “abatement technologies such as carbon capture and storage cannot be used to delay climate action.” Not only is Oil Change International seeking a phase out of fossil fuel production and an agreement to end new oil, it will also be using the occasion of the COP 28 forum to amplify its call for the tripling of renewable energy and the doubling of energy efficiency.