- Al-Ghais says that governments can achieve the goals without dispensing with oil.
- “The Paris Agreement focused on reducing emissions, not choosing energy sources.”
- Scientists say the world is likely to exceed the 1.5 degree Celsius threshold in the early 2030s.
BAKU: OPEC Secretary-General Haitham Al-Ghais on Wednesday told the COP29 climate summit in Baku that crude oil and natural gas are a gift from God, and that global warming talks should focus on reducing emissions and not choosing energy sources.
These statements came at a time when world governments seeking to limit the damage caused by global warming met in the Caspian Sea country of Azerbaijan to reach a comprehensive financing agreement aimed at helping countries reduce emissions and adapt to the changing climate.
“They are truly a gift from God,” Al-Ghais, a veteran Kuwaiti oil executive, said of oil and gas in a speech at the conference.
“It affects how food is produced, packaged, and transported, how medical research is conducted, and medical supplies are manufactured and distributed. I could go on forever,” he added.
His words echo those of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, who used his opening address to the summit last week to respond to Western critics of his country’s oil and gas industry, and who also described those resources as a gift from God.
Al Ghais said world governments, which agreed to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels at a 2015 summit in Paris, could pursue their climate goals without giving up on oil.
He said, “The Paris Agreement focuses on reducing emissions and not choosing energy sources.”
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said technologies such as carbon capture could address the climate impact caused by burning fossil fuels.
Mohamed Hamel, Secretary-General of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum, a grouping of gas exporting countries, spoke to the conference on Wednesday in support of fossil fuels.
“As the world’s population grows, the economy expands, and human living conditions improve, the world will need more natural gas, not less,” he said.
He added that he hoped the COP29 agreement on international climate finance would allow support for natural gas projects to help countries move away from dirtier fuels such as coal.
“The outcome of COP 29 should facilitate the financing of natural gas projects and the expansion of clean technologies such as carbon capture, utilization and storage,” he said.
“This is crucial to ensuring inclusive and orderly energy transitions that leave no one behind,” he added.
Climate scientists say the world is now likely to pass the 1.5°C threshold – beyond which catastrophic climate impacts could occur – in the early 2030s, if not sooner.
The world is currently on track to see temperatures rise by 3.1°C by the end of this century, according to the 2024 UN Emissions Gap Report.