In addition to what McKibben said, one thing I think is worth keeping in mind is that COP does happen every year. And every bit of progress from the previous one can be used to build towards more progress in the next one, which in international terms isn't that far away relatively. Whether that means ending some of these loopholes mentioned or whatever else, I agree and hope people don't get complacent.
But I also hope people don't get so dismayed as well that they give up because a "phase out" agreement wasn't reached. One I don't think that was ever on the table in the first place, and two any sort of agreement would have to be monitored regardless.
Maybe this is me looking at it glass half full, but while not being anywhere near enough and only "historic" in the sense compared to how little progress has been done, like you talk about, I think the statement taken as a whole is ok, given all the constraints of unanimous consent and all that.
“Transitioning 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.”
This COP was in reality, nothing much more than a sales convention for the fossil fuel industry in the middle east and the west. The COP president was hawking his shiny new methane processing plant to everyone. I agree that some agreements were made on faith but with the track record leading up the this years convention being what it was, any agreements made this year are largely smoke in the wind for now until humanity has its back up against the wall with global warming. When the middle east fossil fuel corporations like ARAMCO are no longer sustainable because of the extreme ambient tempertures rendering the middle latitudes uninhabitable, then they will come whining to the table again with more plans to make money at everyone else's expense. Maybe they will try to sell their desert sand as a renewable energy source. I don't see the sheiks reverting back to their pre-oil days from eighty years ago.
The language on methane will hamper the efforts of those working to decarbonize buildings. Speaking of which, the First Global Stocktake is 12,000 words, and the word "building" does not appear, other than in the sense of "building support." The word "cities" appears only once, in passing.
Not so much a trap, I'd, say, but a scam. We must stop treating fossil fuels as sensitive flowers from whom we dare not ask for more. This is the earth we're talking about. We know the timeline.
I feel like calling these deals "historic" or "unprecedented" may just as well describe someone talking about the big dump they just took. It may very well be historic and unprecedented (and gross), but it doesn't do us much good to address the climate crisis.
After COP28, it's quite clear what strategy the fossil fuel interests are using. They are strongly promoting CCS since this technology could allow the continued production and use of fossil fuels, with the promise that CCS will "fix" the pollution of the atmosphere by CO2. Unfortunately, the data from operational CCS facilities doesn't support that conclusion. Firstly, most of the carbon capture facilities are not storing the captured CO2, but using it to recover more oil. Second, analysis of these carbon capture facilities reveals that the current technology would not be affordable at scale. It consumes far too much energy for it to be economical.
What is going to be historical and how history will remember us is how stupid we were to listen to the alarmists and panic into following a journey to NetZero without a solid review of the science and without managing the ability to maintain our prosperity and therefore our sustainability.
By nearly every metric, Earth’s ecosystems are thriving, and the human condition is improving.
The claims of a climate crisis and a looming disaster around every corner, as proclaimed by the Climate Industrial Complex is nonsense...
The naturally warming planet is saving lives and extreme weather events are in decline.
In addition to what McKibben said, one thing I think is worth keeping in mind is that COP does happen every year. And every bit of progress from the previous one can be used to build towards more progress in the next one, which in international terms isn't that far away relatively. Whether that means ending some of these loopholes mentioned or whatever else, I agree and hope people don't get complacent.
But I also hope people don't get so dismayed as well that they give up because a "phase out" agreement wasn't reached. One I don't think that was ever on the table in the first place, and two any sort of agreement would have to be monitored regardless.
Maybe this is me looking at it glass half full, but while not being anywhere near enough and only "historic" in the sense compared to how little progress has been done, like you talk about, I think the statement taken as a whole is ok, given all the constraints of unanimous consent and all that.
“Transitioning 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.”
This COP was in reality, nothing much more than a sales convention for the fossil fuel industry in the middle east and the west. The COP president was hawking his shiny new methane processing plant to everyone. I agree that some agreements were made on faith but with the track record leading up the this years convention being what it was, any agreements made this year are largely smoke in the wind for now until humanity has its back up against the wall with global warming. When the middle east fossil fuel corporations like ARAMCO are no longer sustainable because of the extreme ambient tempertures rendering the middle latitudes uninhabitable, then they will come whining to the table again with more plans to make money at everyone else's expense. Maybe they will try to sell their desert sand as a renewable energy source. I don't see the sheiks reverting back to their pre-oil days from eighty years ago.
The language on methane will hamper the efforts of those working to decarbonize buildings. Speaking of which, the First Global Stocktake is 12,000 words, and the word "building" does not appear, other than in the sense of "building support." The word "cities" appears only once, in passing.
Not so much a trap, I'd, say, but a scam. We must stop treating fossil fuels as sensitive flowers from whom we dare not ask for more. This is the earth we're talking about. We know the timeline.
I feel like calling these deals "historic" or "unprecedented" may just as well describe someone talking about the big dump they just took. It may very well be historic and unprecedented (and gross), but it doesn't do us much good to address the climate crisis.
After COP28, it's quite clear what strategy the fossil fuel interests are using. They are strongly promoting CCS since this technology could allow the continued production and use of fossil fuels, with the promise that CCS will "fix" the pollution of the atmosphere by CO2. Unfortunately, the data from operational CCS facilities doesn't support that conclusion. Firstly, most of the carbon capture facilities are not storing the captured CO2, but using it to recover more oil. Second, analysis of these carbon capture facilities reveals that the current technology would not be affordable at scale. It consumes far too much energy for it to be economical.
Necessary, but not sufficient
What is going to be historical and how history will remember us is how stupid we were to listen to the alarmists and panic into following a journey to NetZero without a solid review of the science and without managing the ability to maintain our prosperity and therefore our sustainability.
By nearly every metric, Earth’s ecosystems are thriving, and the human condition is improving.
The claims of a climate crisis and a looming disaster around every corner, as proclaimed by the Climate Industrial Complex is nonsense...
The naturally warming planet is saving lives and extreme weather events are in decline.
There is no climate crisis.