The Know Daily - Monday 4 December 2023

_{Read in 5m 23s ∙ Listening to Labi Siffre}

The 25 shortlisted images for the Wildlife Photographer of the Year People’s Choice award have been announced. With so many spectacular shots - including “Ice Bed” and “Shared Parenting” - it’s pretty hard to decide on a favourite, but you can check out all the entries and vote for your stand-out here. 

🌎 COP controversy

The president of the COP28 UN climate summit has claimed there is “no science” indicating that a phase-out of fossil fuels is needed to restrict global heating to 1.5C. 

What’s the story?
Cop28 president Sultan Al Jaber made the comments in what The Guardian described as an “ill-tempered” online question and answer session with Mary Robinson, the former UN special envoy for climate change. 

The session took place on 21 November, before the summit kicked off in the UAE last week, but Al Jaber’s comments were first reported yesterday after The Guardian obtained footage of the event. In the video, Al Jaber also says that a phase-out of fossil fuels would not allow sustainable development “unless you want to take the world back into caves”.

What’s the context?
“Countries remain divided over how to tackle the world’s unsustainable use of fossil fuels,” said Euronews, with the topic a key sticking point at this year’s summit. The EU is expected to push for a world-first deal to phase out the "unabated" global use of coal, oil and gas, but other countries - including fossil fuel producers like Saudi Arabia - are expected to push back on this.

The question of whether the final COP28 agreement calls for phasing-out or uses weaker language such as “phase-down” is one of the most “fiercely fought issues” at the summit, said The Guardian.

How have Al Jaber’s comments been received?
Climate leaders have “reacted with fury”, said Sky News, with one scientist telling The Guardian that the comments were “verging on climate denial”. 

The paper also noted that the comments are at odds with the position of the UN secretary general, António Guterres, who told the summit on Friday: “The 1.5C limit is only possible if we ultimately stop burning all fossil fuels. Not reduce. Not abate.”