COP26 negotiators do little to cut emissions, but allow oil and gas executives to rest easy
As the debate continues over whether the global climate summit in Scotland will significantly move the needle on cutting greenhouse gas emissions, one thing is clear: The oil and gas industry still holds its grip on the world’s economic and political systems.
Many climate advocates and vulnerable nations entered this year’s conference hoping to address an enduring failure of the Paris Agreement, which said nothing about fossil fuels. But a draft agreement released on Saturday included only one reference, calling on parties to accelerate phasing out “unabated” coal consumption and “inefficient” subsidies for fossil fuels more broadly. Explicit references to oil and gas were absent.
The conference produced new pledges and alliances aimed at phasing out fossil fuels, but a look at the details of these promises shows they are likely to result in little, if any, change, at least in the short-term.
For example, as the climate meetings came to a close, a group of national and regional governments announced the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance. Eight core members, including Costa Rica, Denmark and France, pledged to halt new oil and gas leasing and to phase out existing production. But the group collectively represents less than 1 percent of global output. And at least one member, Greenland, produces no petroleum products at all. [Continue reading…]