Watching the Left eat itself is a pleasure perpetually renewed.

What happened this time around?

Imagine taking Arab money for a climate change conference and expecting it all to go to plan. And that’s no insult to the Arabs. They know what they’re doing.

But Western leftists expect people who wear dishdashas to bow and scrape every time they walk into the room. It’s hilarious.

When the head of ADNOC (Abu Dhabi National Oil Corporation) is also the Head of the UAE COP28 delegation - and the conference hosted in the UAE, right-thinking folks should expect a reasonable pumping of the fossil fuel hate brakes.

But environMENTALS are rarely right in the head.

Let’s get to the facts.

The Grauniad Breaks a Story!

In a striking and hilarious deviation from the prevailing climate action narrative, COP28 President Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber has controversially dismissed the hysteria behind the rapid phase-out of fossil fuels.

His statement sent shockwaves through Oxbridge dorm rooms, East Side studio apartments, and the hairy armpits of German Green Party candidates.

As the head of the UAE’s COP28 delegation and the CEO of the state-owned oil company ADNOC, Al Jaber's stance presents a stark juxtaposition against the backdrop of increasing hysterical calls for urgent action against climate change.

But since Al Gore thought it was ridiculous to have the CEO of a fossil fuel company also host the conference, you know it was the right thing to do.

In a pant-wettingly hilarious exchange with Mary Robinson, former Irish President, the Sultan had this to say:

Al Jaber spoke with Robinson at a She Changes Climate event.

Robinson said: “We’re in an absolute crisis that is hurting women and children more than anyone … and it’s because we have not yet committed to phasing out fossil fuel. That is the one decision that Cop28 can take and in many ways, because you’re head of Adnoc, you could actually take it with more credibility.”

Al Jaber said: “I accepted to come to this meeting to have a sober and mature conversation. I’m not in any way signing up to any discussion that is alarmist. 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.”

Robinson challenged him further, saying: “I read that your company is investing in a lot more fossil fuel in the future.”

Al Jaber responded: “You’re reading your own media, which is biased and wrong. I am telling you I am the man in charge.”

Al Jaber then said: “Please help me, show me the roadmap for a phase-out of fossil fuel that will allow for sustainable socioeconomic development, unless you want to take the world back into caves.”

“I don’t think [you] will be able to help solve the climate problem by pointing fingers or contributing to the polarisation and the divide that is already happening in the world. Show me the solutions. Stop the pointing of fingers. Stop it,” Al Jaber said.

Al Jaber's remarks, initially reported by The Guardian and subsequently echoed across various news outlets, have left climate advocates with faces like beaten favorites.

They view his statement as a significant setback in the fight against global warming, considering the UAE's prominent role in the fossil fuel industry.

The president's assertion that there is "no science" to support the rapid discontinuation of fossil fuels runs counter to the widely accepted scientific consensus (among scientists who are allowed to have an opinion) on the need to curb greenhouse gas emissions to mitigate the worst impacts of climate change.

Conflict of Interest

The COP28 chief's comments have raised eyebrows, given his dual role as a top executive in the oil sector, leading to accusations of a conflict of interest. Critics argue that this dual role poses a direct challenge to the credibility of COP28, a pivotal event in the global climate action calendar.

The UAE, a major oil producer, hosting the summit adds another layer of complexity to the debate as it seeks to balance its economic interests with the mounting global pressure to transition to cleaner energy sources.

Al Jaber's statement not only flies in the face of the “established scientific consensus” but also seems to undermine the very purpose of the COP summits. And thank heavens for that! They’ve been a complete waste of time and money, except for those government and NGO workers with no other means of gainful employment.

These events have historically been platforms for nations to unite and commit to concrete actions to combat climate change. His claim that phasing out oil will not necessarily achieve the world's climate goals contrasts sharply with the widely held view that fossil fuels are the primary drivers of global warming.

David Miliband, who never became the UK Prime Minister and left the country after losing the Labour leadership contest to his slack-jawed brother, pointed out the inherent challenge in Al Jaber's stance. He emphasized that any vow to phase out fossil fuels at COP28 would be "totally" doomed to fail unless accompanied by concrete actions. He didn’t say how useless these statements are without China’s and India’s buy-ins because we’ll never get them.

All Hat and No Cattle

This highlights a persistent issue in international climate discussions: the gap between rhetoric and action. Despite 27 years of United Nations COP climate talks, a commitment to ditch fossil fuels has never been solidified in a final pact. And it never will be because the UN is toothless.

This ongoing failure underscores the complexity of balancing economic, political, and environmental priorities in a world still heavily dependent on fossil fuels. It also explains why Greta Thunberg never protests in China.

Prince-ly Vices

Michael Shellenberger, author of Apocolypse Never, wrote on his substack:

A new study in the peer-reviewed journal, Personality and Individual Differences, of 839 German environmental activists, suggests we shouldn’t be surprised. It found a strong association between environmental activism and “the dark triad traits,” which are Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and narcissism, as well as left-wing authoritarianism (i.e., antihierarchical aggression, anticonventionalism, top-down censorship). “Most of these associations,” wrote the author, “remained significant after controlling for Big Five characteristics, demographic characteristics, political orientation, and right-wing authoritarianism. These findings suggest that environmental activism, in addition to its potential positive outcomes, may also have a dark side in terms of activists' personality.”

Indeed, none of that is surprising at all.

Wrap Up

Al Jaber's controversial stance at COP28 is significant in the ongoing global climate change and fossil fuel dependency discourse. It reflects the complex interplay of economic, political, and environmental considerations that continue challenging the global community's response to the climate crisis. It may also signal a turning point in the absurdity of some of the climate change arguments.

Signing off from Europe, a continent currently 60% covered in snow.