Climate Solutions Are Debatable, But Science Is Inescapable
How we set environmental policies depends on how we interpret the facts.
UAE Industry and Advanced Technology Minister and President of COP28, Sultan bin Ahmed Al Jaber attends the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Photographer: Nuran Erkul Kaya/Anadolu via Getty Images
While science provides a framework for understanding the world, deciding how to shape policy based on that guidance is a matter of interpretation. As climate negotiations grind on at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Dubai, a controversial statement from COP28 President Sultan bin Ahmed Al Jaber is a reminder of the limitations of science, echoing a lesson we learned during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Last weekend, the Guardian surfaced comments Al Jaber made at an online event in November. “There is no science out there, or no scenario out there, that says that the phase-out of fossil fuel is what’s going to achieve 1.5C,” he said. “Show me the roadmap for a phase-out of fossil fuel that will allow for sustainable socio-economic development, unless you want to take the world back into caves.”