In the lead up to COP28 which starts in a few days, the IEA sends an important message to the oil and gas industry. Producers must choose between contributing to a deepening climate crisis or becoming part of the solution by embracing the shift to clean energy, a new IEA special report says. The report, entitled The Oil and Gas Industry in Net Zero Transitions, sets out a “fair and feasible way forward in which oil and gas companies and producer economies take a real stake in the clean energy economy while helping the world avoid the most severe impacts of climate change.” This means oil and gas producers should be spending about half of their annual investment on clean energy projects by 2030 to be aligned with global climate goals. Will they?
Note that disclosed delegates tied to the world’s biggest polluting oil and gas firms and their trade groups have attended UN-led climate talks at least 7200 times over the last 20 years, according to a new analysis from the Kick Big Polluters Out (KBPO) coalition. Do you see that as a problem?
COP28 in Dubai is starting in a few days. The Earth Negotiation’s Bulletin of the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) provides a good video on what to expect. You can stay up to date with COP28 here.
With so many people on the move this year, here is some useful news to help you along:
- It is encouraging to see the growing demand for train travel. Euronews provides us with the best new European train routes launching in 2023 and 2024.
- For those interested in a nice hike through Europe, much better adventures suggests 20 of the best hikes in Europe.
- If you’re interested in a cycling trip this year, have a look at the Best Cycling Destinations in Europe.
- For those travelling in the US, Lonely Planet provides 9 of the most incredible train journeys in the USA.
Mary Ann Evans, known by her pen name George Eliot (1819-1880), an English novelist, poet, journalist, translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era, gives us an important autumnal message: “Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.”
EiD welcomes your views about this week’s selection of posts on the zero-carbon energy transition:
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Energy in Demand - Sustainable Energy - Rod Janssen 