Page 8 - AfrElec Week 45 2022
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AfrElec COMMENTARY AfrElec
cause global emissions to breach dangerous lev- 176 last year. 70 of their delegation this year are
els. Increasing our reliance on fossil gas cannot classed as fossil fuel lobbyists.
be the solution to today’s climate and energy cri- Despite taking place in Africa, there are more
ses anywhere,” he added. fossil fuel lobbyists registered than any national
Gas is marginally more acceptable as a fuel, delegation from the African continent.
when compared to oil and coal, because of its sta- “The extraordinary presence of this industry’s
tus as a bridging fuel, an idea that is being used in lobbyists at these talks is therefore a twisted joke
Europe to raise LNG imports and allow invest- at the expense of both people and planet,” said
ment in more import capacity. a spokesperson for Corporate Accountability,
“Unabated fossil gas is hardly embraced by Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO), and
the sustainability community as a ‘bridging fuel’ Global Witness (GW), who analysed COP27
in the energy transition process. That role is also attendee lists.
less needed as the International Energy Agency Meanwhile, CAT warned that global warm-
recently concluded that natural gas demand ing was unlikely to fall with the Paris Agree-
reaches a plateau by the end of the decade in ment’s 1.5˚C goals, and said that its forecast was
its scenario based on prevailing policy settings. unchanged over the past year,
That is earlier than recently anticipated as Rus- Its annual projections for global warming
sia’s invasion of Ukraine is accelerating a search were the same as at COP26 in Glasgow, as few
for alternatives, such as renewables, coal and governments have increased their 2030 emis-
LNG. But, more coal and LNG use can also delay sions targets, made new net zero commitments
the realization of net-zero emissions,” said ING’s nor substantiated them.
senior sector economist Gerben Hieminga and Global Warming in 2100 will be 2.4˚C, the
ESG researcher Coco Zhang. same as the CAT projected in Glasgow; includ-
ing long term net zero commitments would take
Gas lobby it to 1.8˚C and the current policies pathway – a
The LNG warning came as COP27 played host to reflection of action on the ground – remains at
a large and influential number of attendees from 2.7˚C.
the fossil fuel industry. “With governments focussing on the energy
Up to 636 fossil fuel lobbyists were registered crisis, this has been a year of little action on the
to attend COP27, Global Witness said. climate: almost no updated national climate tar-
This is 100 lobbyists more than attended the gets for 2030 and no significant increase in par-
Glasgow COP26 summit last year, the group ticipation in Glasgow initiatives on coal phase
said, lamenting what it described as “rise in the out, clean cars and methane,” said Niklas Höhne,
influence of the fossil fuel industry”. of CAT partner organisation NewClimate Insti-
More fossil fuel lobbyists than any single tute. “And without strong 2030 action, govern-
national delegation, Global Witness said, while ments cannot reach net zero.”
the UAE registered 1,070 delegates compared to
P8 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 45 09•November•2022
