Western premiers push back as Guilbeault calls for 'phase-out of unabated fossil fuels'
CBC
Canada's environment minister hopes the next international climate summit will commit to phasing out unabated fossil fuels — oil and gas projects that don't rely on technology to capture their emissions.
Steven Guilbeault outlined his expectations for the next COP28 while meeting with fellow international ministers from Europe, Mexico, India, Japan, China and other countries.
One of those expectations is the eventual elimination of fossil fuel projects that lack a mechanism to prevent carbon emissions from escaping into the atmosphere. Carbon capture, yet to be proven at scale, has been proposed as a way for the oil and gas industry to continue production without changing the planet's climate.
"We can make COP28 the first COP to acknowledge the need to phase out unabated fossil fuels," Guilbeault said in prepared remarks after his annual meeting with international counterparts on climate action in Brussels.
COP, or the Conference of Parties, are annual meetings on climate change hosted by the United Nations. The host of the 28th COP is the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.).
The conference's president echoed Guilbeault's hopes Thursday.
Calling the phasing down of fossil fuels "inevitable," COP28 president-designate Sultan Al Jaber unveiled his country's ambitions for the conference, which will be hosted in Dubai.
"We must be laser-focused on building the energy system of the future, a system free of unabated fossil fuels, including coal," Jaber said in prepared remarks Thursday.
Jaber called for a tripling of renewable energy output, increasing energy efficiency and doubling hydrogen production to 180 tonnes annually by 2030.
Both Canada and the United Arab Emirates are major oil-producing countries.
When the meeting of international ministers concluded, several countries issued their joint statement that seemingly departed from remarks made by Canada and the U.A.E.
Countries that support a climate diplomacy bloc, the High Ambition Coalition, called for "an urgent phase out from fossil fuels."
Ministers from France, Germany, Spain, Ireland and others said this needs to start with a "rapid decline of fossil fuel production and use within this decade."
It goes on to say that technologies such as carbon capture cannot be used to help prolong the life of the oil and gas industry.
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