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Sultan al-Jaber, president of COP28, claims that there is no science to prove that fossil fuels need to be phased out to limit global warming.
He believes that a world without fossil fuels takes the world back to the cave stage.
– Sweden is the best example that it does not take us back to the cave stage, but on the contrary, that electrification is the future, counters Sweden’s Climate and Environment Minister Romina Pourmokhtari.
In a statement at a live online event, Sultan al-Jaber, president of the UN climate summit COP28, claims that there is no research showing that it is necessary to phase out fossil fuels to keep the global average temperature rise below 1.5 degrees , it reports the Guardian.
When Sweden’s climate and environment minister Romina Pourmokhtari is asked to comment on the statement, she says the sultan is wrong.
– Phasing out fossil fuels is absolutely necessary to stop global warming, she says in an email to Aftonbladet.
Furthermore, the COP28 president claims that a world without fossil fuels is unthinkable and that it would take the world back to the cave stage.
Pourmokhtari does not agree with that either and highlights the government’s environmental initiatives as a role model.
– Sweden is the best example that it does not take us back to the cave stage, but on the contrary, that electrification is the future, says the minister.
The Professor: Fossil fuels are doomed
Even Professor John Hassler, former climate researcher for the government, has difficulty understanding al-Jaber’s claim.
– It’s a very strange statement, but you can twist words. We must get down to a net zero emission of carbon dioxide, that cannot be questioned, it is in terms of research. But if all fossil fuels were to be phased out within five to ten years, it would be difficult.
Hassler believes that in such a short time we wouldn’t have good enough other alternatives, but emphasizes that fossil fuels are doomed in the long run.
– We can live in a world without fossil fuels, but when you get there, you don’t know. As an intermediate goal, Fit for 55 has fossil fuels to be phased out by 2042, I am convinced that it can be done and we should probably focus on that, says Hassler.