Oil and gas now has green licence

The hydrocarbons industry must start to deliver in 2024 on the quiet approvals granted at last year’s COP, which was also dubbed ‘Conference of the Petrostates’

The COP charade finally ended in 2023. After decades of talks on energy and emissions without the folks responsible for both being in the room, last November’s COP28 showed what happens when proper discussions are had with the people that matter. Sultan Ahmed al-Jaber, COP president and CEO of Emirati oil firm Adnoc, managed to get over the line both a strongly worded statement for the fossil fuel industry to transition and avoid the absurdly unrealistic ‘phasing down or out’ language so many were keen to employ. Some have suggested this still marks the beginning of the end of fossil fuels, but in reality it marks the beginning of the end for emissions. The view coming out of COP28 was