COP28 president designate urges oil & gas industry to phase out methane emissions by 2030
1 min read 10 May 2023, 04:23 PM ISTAl Jaber called for a phase-out of emissions across all sectors, including transportation, agriculture, and heavy industry, while investing in zero-carbon alternatives
PremiumAbu Dhabi: COP28 president designate and UAE minister for industry and advanced technology, Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, on Wednesday urged the oil and gas industry to eliminate methane emissions by 2030 and adopt comprehensive net zero plans by 2050.
Addressing the UAE Climate Tech forum, Al Jaber emphasized the significance of reducing methane emissions, which account for around 30% of global temperature rise since the industrial revolution.
Al Jaber called for a phase-out of emissions across all sectors, including transportation, agriculture, and heavy industry, while investing in zero-carbon alternatives. He reiterated the need to reduce emissions by 43% by 2030, despite increasing energy demand due to global population growth.
He stressed the importance of implementing practical actions based on COP negotiations and highlighted the role of technology in achieving emission reduction goals without hindering economic progress. He noted that clean tech investments surpassed $1 trillion in 2022, and with supportive policies, climate technologies could double their contribution to global growth while removing up to 25 billion tonne of carbon emissions annually.
Al Jaber underscored the need to invest in hydrogen and carbon capture technologies, as renewables alone cannot address emissions from cement, steel, and aluminum plants, which make up 30% of global emissions. He urged policymakers to incentivize technology companies to commercialize carbon capture technologies.
Emphasizing a just transition and climate finance for the Global South, Al Jaber said that technology adoption should be made more available, accessible, and affordable to help the most vulnerable communities transition to a low-carbon economic development model.
(The reporter is in Abu Dhabi for UAE Climate Tech on the invitation of UAE’s Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology, ADNOC, and Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company.)