Fossil fuels have long been denounced as the main culprit of the climate crisis. In fact, the U.S. petroleum industry is said to have known since 1968 that carbon emissions from fossil fuels could cause global climate change, as revealed in a report submitted by Stanford University. Over the 50-plus years since, humanity and fossil fuels have become a relationship that is not easily broken. Too much binds them together. Power generation, transmission and distribution infrastructure relying on fossil fuels is already densely built across many nations. Moreover, the global economy frequently turns to recession, wavering under the fatal temptation of fossil fuels’ low generation costs.
Despite knowing the risks inherent in the continued use of fossil fuels, overcoming this inertia is difficult. To overcome it requires stronger decision-making, but that is no easy task. Even when decisions are made, there may be regression for various reasons. Nuclear energy experienced this. After the Fukushima disaster, nuclear power was pushed to the brink of ‘global phase-out,’ only to return under the banner of carbon-free green energy in response to the climate crisis.
Late last year, global leaders gathered in the United Arab Emirates to corner fossil fuels. One of the goals of the 28th UN Climate Change Conference (COP28) was to issue a joint declaration on the ‘phase-out of fossil fuels.’ It seemed contradictory that they gathered in an oil-producing nation boasting the world’s sixth-largest oil reserves. But it could have been meaningful — if they had declared a phase-out.
[Group photo of world leaders attending COP28 ©COP28UAE]
The COP28 joint declaration stopped short of a fossil fuel ‘phase-out.’ Instead it was replaced with the softened expression ‘transitioning away from fossil fuels.’ In effect, they left room for ambiguity. The joint declaration at the Conference of the Parties must be determined unanimously, and opposition from oil-producing nations was fierce. Underdeveloped countries such as those in Africa also expressed opposition.
There may be meaning in the fact that since the first COP in Berlin, Germany in 1995, ‘fossil fuels’ was mentioned in a joint declaration for the very first time. However, after the oil industry became aware of the climate crisis in 1968, it took 30 years before the first COP convened, and then another 30 years for fossil fuels to appear in a joint declaration. Thirty years from now, the year 2050 — by which the international community, including South Korea, has declared it will achieve carbon neutrality — will already have passed.
The COP has been held annually since 1995. Yet fossil fuel and coal consumption has also hit record highs each year. The bigger problem is that advances in technology are also increasing the amount of recoverable fossil fuels. It seems that humanity will not be able to say goodbye to cheap, warm fossil fuels for quite some time.
by Editor L