From Watts Up With That?

Essay by Eric Worrall

The usual wailing and wild statements we’ve come to expect in the wake of the annual COP failure.

‘Weak tea’: Climate scientists push back against COP28 cheer

Washington (AFP) – A UN climate deal that approved a call to transition away from fossil fuels has been hailed as a major milestone and a cause for at least cautious optimism. 

Issued on: 14/12/2023 – 02:41

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Michael Mann … “The agreement to ‘transition away from fossil fuels’ was weak tea at best,” he told AFP. “It’s like promising your doctor that you will ‘transition away from donuts’ after being diagnosed with diabetes. The lack of an agreement to phase out fossil fuels was devastating.”

Mann called for a substantial reform of the COP rules, for example permitting super-majorities to approve decisions over the objections of holdout petro states like Saudi Arabia, and barring oil executives such as COP28 president Sultan Al Jaber from presiding over future summits.

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‘Death knell for 1.5C’

“No doubt there will be lots of cheer and back-slapping… but the physics will not care,” said Kevin Anderson, a professor of energy and climate change at the University of Manchester.

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‘Many will die’

Friederike Otto, a climatologist and leader in the field of assessing the role of climate change on specific extreme weather events, was equally damning.  … “With every vague verb, every empty promise in the final text, millions more people will enter the frontline of climate change and many will die.” 

…Read more: https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20231214-weak-tea-climate-scientists-push-back-against-cop28-cheer

Mann’s demand for a transition to a supermajority rather than unanimous vote is intriguing. I mean, how does Mann plan to enforce agreements if he has his supermajority, but one or two key players like India or China say no? Send in the US army?

These climate scientists just aren’t living in the real world.

Of course as COP28 demonstrated, you can just wait until the most intransigent delegates are out of the room before calling a vote.