Fossil fuels are still needed, but they must be drastically reduced

SULTAN Al Jaber, president of the United Nations Climate Conference (COP28) in Dubai, said this week that there was no scientific basis to phase out fossil fuels in order to avoid catastrophic global warming.

While the comment is technically correct, it also suffers from a deficit of nuance. Taken on its own, the comment might suggest that there is no need to sharply reduce the use of fossil fuels. That would be false.

Given climate deniers’ embrace of anti-science culture, it is understandable that Al Jaber’s critics have bristled at the slightest suggestion that climate action is not backed by science. But Al Jaber is correct; fossil fuels are expected to remain a significant energy source – around 30 per cent of primary energy supply in 2050 – in most scenarios that aim to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius by mid-century, as reported by the scientist-led Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).