Dear COP28 Presidency,

Over 320 civil society organizations say:

This United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) must unlock an equitable global energy transition that phases out fossil fuels – the primary cause of the climate crisis. 

COP28 has the potential to be an historic moment in confronting the climate crisis. The COP28 Presidency has an opportunity to secure a transformational negotiated outcome, if it secures a robust negotiated energy package, including an unambiguous agreement to end all new oil and gas expansion, a clear call to equitably and rapidly phase out all fossil fuels, and a commitment to triple deployment of nature-positive and

As the U.S. government arrives in Dubai for the UNFCCC COP28 climate summit, frontline communities, youth, and civil society are planning to confront the Biden-Harris administration’s oil and gas expansion and urging a rapid fossil fuel phaseout. 

Illustration by Pawel Kuczynski

Summary

Governments have spent over $20 billion – and have approved up to $200 billion more – of public money on carbon capture and storage (CCS), providing a lifeline for the fossil fuel industry.
79% of operating carbon capture capacity globally sends captured CO2 to produce more oil (via Enhanced Oil Recovery).
Many of the largest CCS projects in the world overpromise and under-deliver, operating far below capacity.

Carbon, Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCS or CCUS) has a 50-year history of failure. CCS is often presented as a new technology to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by trapping

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 29, 2023

As the United Nations Climate Change Conference begins today, Oil Change International revealed the failure of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) in Carbon Capture's Publicly Funded Failure. CCS has a 50 year track record of over-promising and under-delivering, and every investment in CCS provides a lifeline to the fossil fuel industry.

Key findings: 

Governments have spent over $20 billion – and are planning up to $200 billion more – of public money on Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), providing a lifeline for the fossil fuel industry.
The majority of CCS is used to expand fossil fuel extraction.

As the UN climate talks begin, fossil fuel phase out and an agreement to triple renewable energy and double energy efficiency are top of the agenda. To limit warming to 1.5°C, fossil fuel phase out targets established by the International Energy Agency and IPCC must be deployed alongside renewable energy and energy efficiency targets, which are all achievable at COP28. 

Read our overview of expectations and themes at COP28. 
New data on Carbon Capture and Storage Technologies:
Oil Change International is publishing a new resource on Carbon Capture and Storage technologies today, that includes the latest data and case studies on the fossil

As we drove by the long chain of refineries and other petrochemical facilities that surround the small town of Port Arthur, Texas, noxious fumes wafted into our truck. The residents of Port Arthur, Groves and towns along the Gulf Coast are forced to inhale polluted air day in and day out. 

“Smell that? To some people it smells like money, but it’s death to us,” said John Beard III of the Port Arthur Community Action Network. “That’s the smell of death.” 

Colleagues from Friends of the Earth Japan and I traveled to Texas and Louisiana in early November for a week-long tour,

They are calling it the largest civil disobedience climate protest in the history of Australia. This weekend, thousands of activists, young and old, from across the country descended on the world’s largest coal port at Muloobinba (Newcastle), on Awabakal and Worimi land and water.

The oil giant Shell spends millions of dollars each year to anticipate the future to try and predict the unpredictable. In a corporate game of crystal-ball gazing, Shell likes to play the long game, looking decades into the future to predict upcoming geopolitical or technological trends.

A new report analyzes how the Inflation Reduction Act fails to reduce fossil fuel production or alleviate impact on environmental justice communities, and that current policies will instead lead to a deadly increase in oil and gas production and exports.

Starting this Saturday, the US will host the Asia Pacific Economic Forum (APEC) Leaders’ Week in San Francisco, entitled “Creating a Resilient and Sustainable Future for All.”