As controversy over fossil fuels rages, health groups warn of their toll

Health groups at the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference have made it clear that the world needs to phase out fossil fuels given the harm they inflict on people and the planet. But it has been a contentious issue in climate change negotiations, and it became a firestorm of controversy following remarks by the COP 28 president himself, Sultan Ahmed al-Jaber. Al-Jaber is currently battling criticism after claiming that there’s “no science” that says phasing out fossil fuels will limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels. He made the remarks during a heated exchange with Mary Robinson, chair of The Elders and former president of Ireland, as reported by The Guardian. Scientists, however, have been saying that drastically cutting fossil fuels would greatly reduce emissions — and deaths. And it should not just be coal, but all fossil fuels, including oil, on which COP 28’s host country, the United Arab Emirates, built its wealth. But it’s far from certain that countries will make a breakthrough in fossil fuel language at this year’s COP. During a press conference on Monday, al-Jaber addressed the controversy, saying he respects the science that to keep the world at 1.5 degrees Celsius, we need to reduce emissions by 43% by 2030. He insisted that he’s been saying “over and over that the phase down and the phase-out of fossil fuel is inevitable” and “essential,” but the transition should be “orderly, fair, just and responsible.” Jim Skea, the chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and who sat next to al-Jaber at the press conference, said the science states that to keep global temperatures at 1.5 degrees Celsius, fossil fuel use should be “greatly reduced” by 2050, alongside the complete phase-out of unabated coal. Meanwhile, oil use should be reduced by 60% and natural gas by 45%. Skea said he’s had “a small number of one-to-one conversations” with al-Jaber on the science and that the latter “has been attentive to the science” and he said he thinks al-Jaber “has fully understood it.” The UAE is among the largest producers and exporters of oil and gas, and al-Jaber heads the state-owned oil company ADNOC. This has put his presidency under scrutiny, with climate activists accusing him of a conflict of interest. In the lead-up to COP 28, a news report accused him of using the summit to make oil deals with governments, which he vehemently denied. According to a recent Lancet Countdown report on health and climate change, ADNOC is among the world’s 20 largest oil and gas companies that have increased their projected fossil fuel production — which would result in greenhouse gas emissions surpassing 1.5 degrees Celsius. The current pace of mitigation efforts puts the world on track for a temperature rise of 2.7 degrees Celsius by 2100. But the focus shouldn’t only be on degrees averted. Health groups say it should also be on human health. The Lancet report projects that if temperatures rise to 2 degrees Celsius, heat-related deaths will increase by 370% by mid-century and infectious diseases will spread. U.S. climate envoy John Kerry said during the first Health Day at COP 28 that his daughter Vanessa, who serves as the World Health Organization’s special envoy for climate change and health, would often tell him that measuring progress on the climate crisis should be based on the number of lives saved. During the event, Kerry emphasized the need to transition out of coal. His declaration that “There shouldn’t be any more coal-fired power plants permitted anywhere in the world” was applauded. He noted that the biggest cause of hospitalization of children in the United States during the summer is environmentally induced asthma, which costs the country a minimum of $55 billion a year. “I find myself getting more and more militant because I do not understand how adults who are in positions of responsibility can be avoiding responsibility for taking away those things that are killing people on a daily basis,” he said. But the U.S. isn’t immune to criticism. It has increased its oil production and was the largest exporter of liquefied natural gas — also a fossil fuel — in the first half of the year.