COP28 Media Advisory

Overview of Oil Change International (OCI) expectations and themes at COP28:

Record heat. Deadly floods. Toxic air. It has never been clearer that the world must stop burning fossil fuels if we want a safe, livable planet.  And yet, the fossil fuel industry is pumping more and more gas and oil, expanding its business, lying to us, and raking in deadly profits, as millions of people are displaced, harmed, and killed. This has to stop. To  make a better world for all of us, today and for generations to come, governments at UN Climate Talks must: 

1) Stop all new fossil fuel expansion, 2) secure a full, fair, fast, funded phase-out of fossil fuels, 

3) without delays, greenwashing, and dangerous distractions like CCS, 4) with rich countries who bear historic responsibility for the climate crisis moving first and fastest and 5)making polluters pay to free up trillions in fair public funding for a just transition. They must also massively scale up their public funding on fair terms for the global energy transition away from fossil fuels and for the loss and damage they are responsible for.

The call for a just and equitable phase out of all fossil has been gaining momentum: 

At last year’s COP27 80 countries were calling for fossil fuel phase out to be included in the final outcome, earlier this year over half a million people marched ahead of the UN Secretary General’s Climate Ambition Summit demanding a fossil fuel phase out, thousands of health professionals called for an “accelerated, just and equitable phase-out of fossil fuels as the decisive path to health for all”, and COP President Sultan Al Jaber has stated the inclusion of fossil fuel phase out has emerged as a priority for many stakeholders.

At the UN climate talks in Dubai, fossil fuel phase out is for the first time at the top of the agenda, as well as an agreement to triple renewable energy and double energy efficiency. 

To limit warming to 1.5°C, fossil fuel phase out targets established by the International Energy Agency and IPCC must be deployed alongside renewable energy and energy efficiency targets, which are all achievable at COP28. The International Energy Agency’s 2023 Net Zero Roadmap report reaffirms that countries must not develop new oil, gas, or coal – and some existing fields and infrastructure will need to be closed early – to remain within the internationally agreed upon temperature limit.

It will be key to ensure poorly defined “abatement” technologies used to distract from the need for a full and fair phase out of all fossil fuels, will not be included in any final COP28 agreements. These technologies have a long history of failure but are being promoted by the fossil fuel industry and government enablers to avoid calls for a fossil fuel phaseout.

Countries with high incomes, diversified economies, and outsized historical responsibility for causing the climate crisis, claim to be climate leaders while planning new oil and gas extraction incompatible with a livable future. They must also provide funding for the global energy transition away from fossil fuels and for the loss and damage they are responsible for.

Themes:

At COP28, reach out to us to connect with spokespeople to cover: 

OCI will have spokespeople available on the ground at COP28 for interviews and press panels, as well as representatives in alternative timezones for those journalists not in attendance in Dubai. 

Latest releases:

New data on Carbon Capture and Storage Technologies:

Oil Change International will be publishing a new resource on Carbon Capture and Storage technologies on November 27, that will include the latest data and case studies on the fossil fuel industry’s favorite distraction. Data will be available here. 

Inflation Reduction Act Briefing:

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) fails to reduce fossil fuel production and alleviate impact on environmental justice communities, according to a new briefing by Oil Change International titled “Biden’s Fossil Fuel Fail: How U.S. Oil and Gas Supply Rises under the Inflation Reduction Act, Exacerbating Environmental Injustice. The briefing was released on November 20th, and a Presentation of the findings taking place at COP28, details TBD.

Japan’s Fossil Finance Briefing:

Oil Change International will release a background briefing on how Japan’s fossil finance threatens to derail the energy transition in Asia and globally. Despite the urgent need to phase out fossil fuels, Japan is driving the expansion of liquified gas (LNG) and other fossil-based technologies like ammonia co-firing across Asia and globally. This will worsen the climate crisis and harm communities and ecosystems. Communities and movements are rising up – particularly in the Global South – to oppose Japan’s efforts to derail the transition to renewable-based energy systems. Briefing is available here.

Pre-COP quote from OCI:

Romain Ioualalen, Global Policy Manager at Oil Change International said: “At the UN Climate Talks in Dubai, it is imperative that countries come to an agreement on immediately ending fossil fuel expansion and building a just and equitable phase out of all fossil fuels, enabled by providing the necessary funding to triple renewable energy and doubling energy efficiency. 

“Last year at COP27 a group of 80 countries pushed for an agreement on phasing out fossil fuels – and at this year’s negotiations, governments must agree to a rapid, equitable, and funded phase out of all fossil fuels. A liveable future for all quite literally depends on it. Governments will need to aggressively tackle fossil fuel production and use and deploy renewable energy at scale if they want to meet their own goal of limiting warming to 1.5°C. The alternative is climate failure and a chaotic, expensive transition with lots of stranded assets, with unprecedented human cost.”

OCI COP28 side events list:

Recent Oil Change International COP28 press: