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COP28 participants were shocked by the view from their hotel in Dubai during the opening of the climate summit on Thursday November 30th. (Photo illustration Dubai)
ENVIRONMENT – A window through which we can glimpse the long road ahead to escape fossil fuels. From the roof of their luxury hotel in the heart of Dubai, COP28 participants were able to take a behind-the-scenes look at the economic capital of the United Arab Emirates, the world’s seventh-largest oil reserves and a passionate advocate of hydrocarbons.
“This morning at my hotel I opened the curtains on what I now know to be the largest natural gas power generation facility in the world [source d’énergie la plus utilisée au monde après le pétrole, ndlr] in a single place in the world,” describes Tzeporah Berman, a Canadian activist and author, on X (formerly Twitter). “I’ll be watching this through the haze of pollution for two weeks,” she continues with a hint of bitterness.
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“An absolutely perfect metaphor”
“The flares sparkle as the sky darkens,” describes another participant, Ed King, again on his X account from his room, before recalling that the discussions during COP28 were precisely “about the future of these power plants and others “Hold on,” writes the scientist who specializes in climate change at the end of his message.
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In a tone that one perceives as shrill, researcher Rachel Kyte, who was at the head of the organization “Sustainable Energy for All” for a long time, laughs muffledly from her “room with a view.” And adds: “Let us take necessary and ambitious measures.” »
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Photos that particularly caused the American science journalist and author Laurie Garrett to react. She sees Dubai’s polluted landscapes as “an absolutely perfect metaphor to illustrate Big Oil’s takeover.” [les grandes compagnies pétrolières privées mondiales] of diplomacy. Farhana Sultana, a researcher at Syracuse University in New York, laments “the irony of a global conference aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the midst of greenhouse gas emissions.”
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The holding of the World Climate Conference in Dubai was highly controversial, particularly among environmental activists and many climatologists. And for good reason: The United Arab Emirates is one of the ten largest oil producers in the world. A resource that, along with gas and coal, is a fossil fuel that accounts for 80% of our planet’s greenhouse gas emissions.
A situation highlighted by a lengthy BBC investigation published on Monday November 27th in which we learned that COP28 President Sultan Al Jaber, who is also head of the oil company Adnoc, has resigned his position at the COP wanted to take advantage of making deals in the fossil fuel market was further tarnished.
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