The Fossil of the day Daily count for COP28. The best of the worst....
| Day | Gold |
Silver |
Bronze |
Mention | Ray |
| Dec 3 | New Zealand | USA | Japan | ||
| Dec 4 | Brazil | South Africa | |||
| Dec 5 | USA | Russia | Japan | ||
Below are the CAN International Medias Releases for all the Fossil Awards, available
This page will be updated daily.
This is my digital diary of Australia at COP28 in Dubai. I have attended four previous COPs (2015-2019) in person. For COP26 Glasgow in 2021 and COP27 Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt in 2022, I kept a Digital diary of Australia at the climate conference. I will be following whats going on at COP28 in Dubai online. Follow with me. I'll be updating this blog post regularly over November-December 2023.
President-Designate for COP28, is Dr.Sultan Al Jaber, who is the Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology of the United Arab Emirates, managing director and group CEO of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC Group), and chairman of Masdar, a state owned renewable energy company.
Australia will be represented at the ministerial level by Climate and Energy Minister Chris Bowen and Assistant Minister Jenny McAllister. See Tracking Australian Ministers and Australian pledges at COP28.
UNFCCC COP28 website for documents. UAE COP28 website. Civil Society COP28 Climate Justice Hub, DCCEEW international climate action page. Australia at COP28. Carbon Brief Negotiating Text Tracker | Fossil of the Day awards leader Board
I'll be including detail from IISD Earth Negotiating Bulletin for each day. I might pluck details from the full report, especially relevant to Australia, and will post the 'In the Corridors" section which provides a concise 'vibe' summary on the negotiations. I might include details from other sources as needed.
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Negotiations Report on 5 December.
IISD/ENB Negotiations summary 5 December In the Corridors:
It’s the day before what’s looking to be a long final day for the Subsidiary Bodies. They close on Wednesday, 6 December, meaning that negotiations across the board were scheduled and rescheduled. For discussions to select a host for the Santiago Network, an agreement seems close at hand. Gender reached an agreement, although few seemed pleased. But they are largely outliers.
In research and systematic observation and the Adaptation Committee, the specter of Rule 16 looms. It signals that no agreement could be reached at all. Negotiators on agriculture, response measures, and the Global Goal on Adaptation continued discussions to try to overcome entrenched disagreements. Article 6.4 had “merely started,” in the words of one observer. At least in finance, one Co-Facilitator observed that “everyone seems equally unhappy, as always at this stage.”
For some issues, it’s a matter of getting texts in shape for political engagement. GST negotiators expected to “be here all night” to prepare a text to be forwarded to ministers. The current version is replete with options—89 and more to come—and the crucial section on how to take the GST’s messages forward is a compilation of options and 29 bullet points. In informal informals all day, the just transition work programme talks seemed far from their goal to define, let alone refine, some options that delegates were comfortable sending to the ministers.
The mood was nervy. One negotiator blankly stated “everyone is in the dark” on the process for the second week. Another worried negotiator said once the texts are handed to the Presidency “the process becomes a little bit unclear at that point,” joined by another who “wanted to preserve the progress we’ve made.” The finance negotiators even heard one group call for “protecting the Presidency” to ensure it can focus on the many issues that will require its engagement.
The Presidency will likely convene a stocktaking session after the Subsidiary Bodies close. Several hoped this will be worth staying up late for.
5 December - Scientists call for citizens to become activists. 33 IPCC authors among 1,447 scientists and academics in signing an open letter calling on the public to take collective action to avert climate breakdown. Scientists are becoming angry that their research warning us of climate breakdown has been essentially ignored for over 30 years. (Guardian)
5 December - 2,400+ Fossil Fuel lobbyists at COP28. Kick Big Polluters Out campaign reveals there are almost four times as many fossil fuel lobbyists as registered as COP27!!!! Seven times as many as official Indigenous delegates, and more than all the people brought by the 10 most climate vulnerable countries. Australia ranks 34th with 8 Fossil Fuel lobbyists (Kick Big Polluters Out)
5 December - At least 360,000 people are estimated to die prematurely before the end of the century from one year of greenhouse gas emissions from nine major European oil and gas companies. This is due to the increasing extreme heat. This is shown by research. study analyzes the 2022 self-reported greenhouse gas emissions of Shell, TotalEnergies, BP, Equinor, Eni, Repsol, OMV, Orlen and Wintershall Dea. They emitted 2.7 billion tons of CO2 in 2022. (Greenpeace Netherlands)(CAN International)
5 December: Reliance on carbon capture and storage (CCS) could release an extra 86 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases (GHG) into the atmosphere between 2020 and 2050, finds a new analysis published today (Climate Analytics).
5 December - Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance announced the joining of 3 new members: Kenya (first African country), Samoa and Spain, as well as the implementation of the BOGA fund, through which Colombia and Kenya will receive 1 million dollars each of technical assistance to explore ways to manage the transition.
5 December - Carbon Capture At the high-level roundtable 'Carbon Management Challenge: Essential Pillar to Keep 1.5ºC Alive’ joining countries announced a pledge to scale the expansion of carbon capture and storage, to a gigaton CO2 by 2030 (on track for the IEA pathway) under the heading of the Carbon Management Challenge (CMC)
5 December - Initiative to support the phasing out of a coal plant in the Philippines. The Coal to Clean Credit Initiative (CCCI), which has support from The Rockefeller Foundation, announced a new collaboration with ACEN Corporation to explore a pilot project in the Philippines that would leverage carbon finance to phase out a coal-fired power plant and replace it with renewable energy, while supporting livelihoods of vulnerable people.
5 December - Report launch on An Equitable Phase Out of Fossil Fuel Extraction. Australia needs to phase out coal, oil and gas by 2031. (Civil Society Equity Review)
5 December - Dairy Methane Action Alliance. Industry leaders the Bel Group, Danone, General Mills, Kraft Heinz, Lactalis USA, and Nestlé together with the Environmental Defense Fund announced the launch of the Dairy Methane Action Alliance with the aim of reducing and accounting for methane in their dairy supply chains.(Environmental Defense Fund)
5 December - Australia rejects nuclear path to focus on renewables for decarbonisation (Climate Citizen)
5 December - Australia joins the Clean Energy Transition Partnership (CETP) - also known as the Glasgow Statement. This will help end the billion dollar pipeline of taxpayer money to fossil fuel companies coming from federal export finance and foreign aid programs. Australia is joining at least 39 countries and institutions, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Fiji, to align international investment strategies with net zero priorities. (DCCEEW)(Jubilee Australia)
5 December - Labor and Greens strike deal to establish nature repair scheme. Government also committed to supporting fast-tracked legislation to strengthen the water trigger so that it applies to all forms of unconventional gas, such as fracking for tight gas like in the Beetaloo Basin. (Guardian)
5 December - Former President of Ireland Mary Robinson comments on Al Jaber furore:
Mary Robinson, Chair of The Elders, calls on all leaders at #COP28 to stop funding what is harming us and start supporting what is needed to secure a liveable future for all.
— The Elders (@TheElders) December 4, 2023
Read The Elders' calls to action in full: https://t.co/KrRiHJWOvK pic.twitter.com/lFmnsryIkw
5 December - Climate Action Tracker 2023 Update highlights that there has been no improvement to warming projections since COP26 Glasgow. The CAT’s “optimistic scenario” would result in warming of 1.8°C, still well above 1.5˚C. CAT also notes that we are “unlikely to see any movement in this pathway.” Without any major policy improvement in this critical decade, end of century warming remains at 2.7°C. The report also draws attention to the fossil fuel industry and some governments “still trying to support every unrealistic techno fix to see if one of these false solutions sticks”, with specific cautions on reliance on CCS, co-firing ammonia with coal in thermal power plants, E-fuels, the use of carbon credits to offset domestic emissions and meet NDC targets, and reliance on carbon removal to reach net zero targets.Warns on language: ""Abated" is not a phase-out. COP28 must agree to phase out fossil fuels: everything else is a distraction."(Climate Action Tracker)
5 December - Fossil of the Day awards: (CAN International)
🥇 USA 🇺🇸 - world’s largest oil & gas producer, responsible for > one-third of all planned oil & gas expansion
🥈Russia 🇷🇺 - gas is not green, it certainly isn’t a transition fuel
🥉 Japan 🇯🇵 - doubling down on coal
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| COP28 Nuclear Pledge |
On 2 December 22 countries call for tripling of nuclear energy by 2050.
The list of nuclear advocates include : Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Ghana, Hungary, Japan, Moldova, Mongolia, Morocco, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Sweden, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States.
18 of these nations already have a nuclear energy industry. Only four: Moldova, Morocco, Poland and Mongolia, signed the pledge as countries without nuclear power. A number of countries with nuclear energy industries did not sign the pledge.
On the same day 117 other countries signed a pledge to triple global renewable energy capacity, and double energy efficiency, including Australia.
Climate and Energy Minister Chris Bowen said Australia had joined other major energy exporters, including the US, Canada and Norway, in supporting the renewables and energy efficiency push.
“We know that renewables are the cleanest and cheapest form of energy, and that energy efficiency can also help drive down bills and emissions,” he said in a statement. “For emissions to go down around the world, we need a big international push. Australia has the resources and the smarts to help supply the world with clean energy technologies to drive down those emissions while spurring new Australian industry.”
On 23 November Climate Minister Chris Bowen announced 32GW boost to Renewables to meet Australia's 82 percent renewables by 2030 target reports Climate Action Merribek.
Meanwhile Skynews and the Australian are strongly pushing the Coalition Party line on development of nuclear power to address the climate crisis, ignoring the overwhelming economic costs, opportunity costs, and the escalation of costs of living this would bring to Australian electricity consumers.
Dave Sweeney, Nuclear policy analyst, Australian Conservation Foundation said about the Nuclear Push at COP28:
“Pro-nuclear voices have put a lot of money and effort into this CoP to promote nuclear power as a climate response. We don’t agree. Existing nuclear technology is high cost and high risk and new or ‘next generation’ nuclear, including the heavily promoted small modular reactors (SMR’s), is unproven and not in commercial deployment anywhere in the world. We need effective climate action, not nuclear distractions. The Australian experience of communities and First Nations people with the impacts of uranium mining, nuclear testing and waste dumping has shown the gap between nuclear industry rhetoric and lived reality. Our shared energy future cannot be built or based on industry assurances or politicians promises. Renewable energy is proven, popular, safer, cheaper and far more deployable. Our low carbon energy future is renewable, not radioactive.”
Australia will be represented at the ministerial level at COP28 by Climate and Energy Minister Chris Bowen and Assistant Minister Jenny McAllister. Jenny McAllister has already been assigned a key role at the conference: co-facilitate with Chile’s Minister for the Environment, Maisa Rojas, outcomes on adaptation.
Why doesn't Prime Minister Albanese attend? Well COP28 is more of a technical conference focussed on the implementation of the Paris Agreement, this year looking at the Global Stock Take, Implementing the Loss and Damage Fund, as well as mitigation and Adaptation work programs.
The Strategy lays out a plan to manage the health impacts of climate change, reduce the carbon footprint of the health system, promote the health co-benefits of emissions reductions, and to collaborate internationally to build sustainable, climate-resilient health systems and communities.
This is the first COP where health is a major theme. 127 nations, including Australia, have now signed a COP28 Declaration on Health and Climate.
New InfluenceMap research published 28 November finds that corporate net zero or similar targets are rarely matched by support for government climate policy, with 58% of almost 300 companies from the Forbes 2,000 list found to be at risk of “net zero greenwash” due to their policy engagement.
Chevron, Delta Air Lines, Duke Energy, ExxonMobil, Glencore International, Nippon Steel Corporation, Repsol, Stellantis, Southern Company, and Woodside Energy Group Ltd are in the top ten dirty greenwashers. They are among the 21.5% of companies assessed to be at significant risk of “net zero greenwash” due to their policy engagement.
The High Level Expert Group on Net Zero Emissions Commitments of Non-State Entities released its report to the UN Secretary-General at the UN climate talks, COP27, in Egypt in November 2022. The Influence Map uses this as guidance and standards for assessing companies. Read the Climate Citizen report of the launch.
"Without changing course, we’re heading towards a calamitous three-degree Celsius temperature rise by the end of the century. That means losing the West Antarctica Ice Sheet almost entirely. This alone could ultimately push up sea levels by around five meters." said the UN Chief.
The International Cryosphere Climate Initiative published its latest State of the Cryosphere report 2023 on 16 November 2023, outlining in 6 detailed chapters covering the changes and impacts of Ice Sheets, Mountain Glaciers and Snow, Sea Ice, Permafrost and Polar Oceans. The report included a forward by the President of Chile and Prime Minister of Iceland calling for a phaseout of fossil fuels to limit damages to the cryosphere, and consideration of the issue in the Global Stocktake at COP28.
Okay, I'm going to add satirical humopur to this page as the UN climate conference proceeds...
First up, this entry from Canada: COP 28 LEAKED: Honest Big Oil Ad | The Goose
and of course there is The Juice Media : Honest Government Ad | COP31 🇦🇺 & the Pacific
Rather than attend the Opening Plenary of COP28, the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres provided a video message for the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) launch of their Provisional State of the Global Climate 2023 report.
He carefully summarised some of the main points of the report and said "We are living through climate collapse in real time and the impact is devastating". He called for committing at COP28 to phase out fossil fuels, with a clear time frame aligned to the 1.5-degree limit.
Describing the provisional WMO report, WMO Secretary-General Prof. Petteri Taala said,
“Greenhouse gas levels are record high. Global temperatures are record high. Sea level rise is record high. Antarctic sea ice is record low. It’s a deafening cacophony of broken records,”
“These are more than just statistics. We risk losing the race to save our glaciers and to rein in sea level rise. We cannot return to the climate of the 20th century, but we must act now to limit the risks of an increasingly inhospitable climate in this and the coming centuries,” he said.
“Extreme weather is destroying lives and livelihoods on a daily basis – underlining the imperative need to ensure that everyone is protected by early warning services,” said Prof. Taalas.
Andrew (Twiggy) Forrest is no saint regarding his mining interests, with allegations his companies destroyed sacred indigenous cultural sites.
Increasingly, he has championed climate action, energy transition, phase out of coal, oil and gas, phase out of fossil fuel subsidies, and Australia becoming an energy superpower based on our excellent renewable energy sources, and critical minerals. In this interview he calls for the old guard in fossil fuels to get out of the way, and calls Australia a Petro-state.
Forrest is non-executive Chaiman of Fortescue Metals Group (FMG). He has a strong interest in maintaining the health of the oceans and in 2019 was awarded a PhD in Marine Science from the University of Western Australia.
