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Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Carbon capture and climate intervention · United Arab Emirates · 2023

COP28 decision promoted carbon capture and left room for transition fuels

Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
Not on record
  • The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
What the record lacks: 1 none on record · 1 insufficient · 1 not measured See the gaps

The December 2023 COP28 decision in Dubai encouraged carbon capture and left room for 'transition fuels'. Oil and gas companies that promote carbon capture also sit on its industry body, and the sources report that almost all 2023 carbon removal came from forestation.

What?
The COP28 decision in Dubai in December 2023 encouraged carbon capture and left room for 'transition fuels', according to Down To Earth. Down To Earth
Where?
Dubai, United Arab Emirates (COP28) Down To Earth
When?
COP28 decision in December 2023; Crabtree appointment in April 2022; Global Witness review in 2023.
Who?
Gained
  • Oil and gas companies, including Shell, BP, TotalEnergies, ExxonMobil, Chevron and ADNOC — Members of the Global CCS Institute, described in the sources as the sector's international body
Lost
None on record
Harmed
None on record
Why?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
How?
A UN climate summit decision that referred to carbon capture; the wording on unabated fossil fuels is reported but not verified (see unknown). Down To Earth
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

The COP28 decision adopted in Dubai in December 2023 encouraged carbon capture alongside a call to move away from fossil fuels, and left room for 'transition fuels', Down To Earth reported.

Global Witness reported in 2023 that Shell, BP, TotalEnergies, ExxonMobil, Chevron and the UAE's state oil company ADNOC are members of the Global CCS Institute, and that three of its six executives worked or work at Shell or BP.

The COP28 president was also chief executive of ADNOC, according to a November 2023 report.

Brad Crabtree, director of the Carbon Capture Coalition, which backs the 45Q tax credit, was appointed in April 2022 to head the Energy Department's office for fossil energy and carbon management.

    In court and with insurers

    Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

    Lawsuits and rulings

    No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

    Insurers

    No insurer decision on record.

    What we don't know

    Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.

    Nature

    • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

    Record

    • Insufficient Reported but not verified: the wording 'unabated fossil fuels' in draft texts has no agreed definition.
    • None on record The sources reviewed do not show what the COP28 decision changed in national plans.

    Did the harm stop?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Who paid?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Sources

    Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations— Communities and civil society— Researchers

    Press and investigations

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    Terms used on this page

    Law and courts

    Arbitration
    A private dispute process in which an appointed arbitrator, instead of a court, decides the case.
    Plea
    In a criminal case, the defendant's formal answer to a charge. A plea agreement settles a case with a guilty plea on agreed terms.

    Insurance

    Captive insurer, self-insurance
    A company covering its own risks, either directly or through an insurance company it owns.
    Underwriter
    An insurer, or a person at an insurer, who assesses a risk and decides whether and on what terms to insure it.
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