UN chief to fossil fuel firms: stop trying to 'knee-cap' climate progress (updated)

Fossil

15/06/2023 18:56

(Adds further comment by Guterres)
    By Michelle Nichols
       UNITED NATIONS, June 15 (Reuters) - U.N.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Thursday that
countries must start phasing out oil, coal and gas - not just
emissions - and demanded fossil fuel companies "cease and
desist" measures that aim to "knee-cap" climate progress.
    "The problem is not simply fossil fuel emissions. It's
fossil fuels – period," Guterres told reporters. "The solution
is clear: The world must phase out fossil fuels in a just and
equitable way - moving to leave oil, coal and gas in the
ground."
    His remarks come after the United Arab Emirates, which will
host U.N. climate change negotiations (COP28) later this year,
said that talks should focus on phasing out emissions, not
fossil fuels. Negotiators are struggling to agree to an agenda
for COP28, due to start Nov. 30, which could put talks at risk.
    Some wealthy Western states and climate-afflicted island
nations have been pushing for a phase out of fossil fuels, while
resource-rich countries have campaigned to keep drilling.
    "Fossil fuel companies must also cease and desist influence
peddling and legal threats designed to knee-cap progress. I am
thinking particularly of recent attempts to subvert net-zero
alliances, invoking anti-trust legislation," Guterres said. 
    Republican politicians in some U.S. states pushing back
against sustainability efforts have charged that companies in
such climate alliances and using environmental, social and
governance (ESG) standards could be breaking anti-trust laws by
aligning their policies.
    At least seven members of the Net-Zero Insurance Alliance,
launched in 2021, have left - including five of the eight
founding parties - over what they say are legal concerns about
antitrust lawsuits.
    "Governments are pivotal in setting the record straight. 
They must help by providing clear reassurance: Collective
climate action does not violate anti-trust - it upholds the
public trust," Guterres said after meeting with a group of civil
society climate leaders from around the world. 
    Guterres also called out companies for not yet reaching
modest operational emissions reductions targets they have set 
and for relying too heavily on "dubious offset" credits.
    For example, Shell plans to scrap its target to reduce oil
output by 1% to 2% per year having already largely reached its
goal for production cuts, mainly through selling oil assets such
as its U.S. shale business.
    "Fossil fuel industry transition plans must be
transformation plans, that chart a company’s move to clean
energy - and away from a product incompatible with human
survival," Guterres said. "Otherwise, they are just proposals to
become more efficient planet-wreckers."
    He called on them to create detailed plans that include
emissions reduction targets not just for their operations but
that target their end use. 
    

 (Additional reporting by Valerie Volcovici; Editing by Aurora
Ellis)
 ((michelle.nichols@tr.com; Twitter: @michellenichols))