Far too many around the world consider that if the COP process does not immediately and totally condemn fossil fuels and order the end of their use, then the whole process is a failure. This is not how diplomacy and politics work. You have to build a consensus. As I have been explaining, Saudi Arabia just took an important step in that direction, while refusing to mention fossil fuels directly. Far too many commentators overlook this momentous step forward.
Going off fossil fuels has been mentioned in one official COP document, at COP28. Saudi Arabia was willing to refer to this as the UAE consensus in the agreed-on COP30 declaration, even though refusing to make another explicit statement. Baby steps. Duck bites.
Many others took much more direct steps proclaiming meaningful goals adopted by dozens of countries while we work on how to lure the rest into sanity. My personal preference is to talk about the trillions of dollars in $$Real Money$$ to be made on cheaper and more reliable and cleaner energy, vs. $trillions to be lost in climate catastrophes if we don’t. It is only those blinded by petrodollars and past privilege who refuse to see the vast profits we are offering them.
This is not a new phenomenon. It almost always takes at least 50 years for a new political idea to triumph, sometimes more, as its older opponents die off and the young grow up with it. Global Warming was measured 53 years ago in ocean temperatures and insurance claims worldwide. It was first predicted in 1824, and many times after that.
Good News Thursday: The Fifty-Year Rule in Politics
Among other examples, I cited the 50-year campaign to end slavery in the British Empire, led by William Wilberforce (picture and quote above). It was about 50 years from Stonewall to Obergefell. Jim Crow lasted longer. The vote to release the Epstein files took less than a year, after decades of preparation. YMMV.
A future Cop, in Turkey next year, Ethiopia in 2027, and perhaps India in 2028, could opt to “recognise”, “welcome”, “acknowledge” or even – the strongest formulation – “adopt” the roadmap idea, giving it legal standing to please the purists.)
Detractors dismiss nonbinding initiatives as “coalitions of the willing” but, ultimately, climate progress comes from such coalitions – nobody can force countries to follow the Paris agreement, or other commitments, if their government decides not to. Just look at the US.
What matters in the climate crisis is not the legal status of words agreed over night-long sessions in windowless conference rooms. What will save us is real-world action. If enough countries display their intent to move away from fossil fuels, money will follow. Today, global investment in renewables is twice that of fossil fuels; a quarter of all new vehicles sold worldwide are electric; and half of the power-generating capacity of China and India is low-carbon.
During the fraught closing hours of the summit, Carbon Brief understands that the Brazilian presidency told negotiators in a closed meeting that there was no prospect of reaching consensus on the roadmap’s inclusion, because there were “80 for and 80 against”.
However, Carbon Brief’s analysis of the list – which was drawn up informally by the presidency – shows that it contains a variety of contradictions and likely errors.
Among the issues identified by Carbon Brief is the fact that 14 countries are listed as both supporting and opposing the idea of including a fossil-fuel roadmap in the COP30 outcome.
In addition, the list of those said to have opposed a roadmap includes all 42 of the members of a negotiating group present in Belém – the least-developed countries (LDCs) – that has explicitly told Carbon Brief it did not oppose the idea.
Moreover, one particularly notable entry on the list, Turkey – which is co-president of COP31 – tells Carbon Brief that its inclusion is “wrong”.
COP28, held in Dubai in 2023, had finalised the first “global stocktake”, which called on all countries to contribute to global efforts, including a “transition away from fossil fuels”.
Since then, negotiations on how to take this forward have faltered.
The bulk of the list of countries opposing a roadmap – some 39 nations – is made up of two negotiating blocs that opposed the proposal for divergent reasons (see below). Some countries within these blocs also held different positions on why – or even whether – they opposed the roadmap being included in the COP30 deal.
These blocs are the 22-strong Arab group – chaired in Belém by Saudi Arabia – and the 25 members of the “like-minded developing countries” (LMDCs), chaired by India.
Some of the LDC nations had publicly backed a fossil-fuel roadmap.
Manjeet Dhakal, lead adviser to the LDC chair, tells Carbon Brief that it is “not correct” that the LDCs, as a bloc, opposed a fossil-fuel roadmap during the COP30 negotiations.
He says that the group’s expectations, made public before COP, clearly identified transitioning away from fossil fuels as an “urgent action” to keep the Paris Agreement’s 1.5C goal “within reach”. He adds:
“The LDC group has never blocked a fossil-fuel roadmap. [In fact], a few LDCs, including Nepal, have supported the idea.”
Some developing countries want us to understand that they are not against the transition off carbon, only against being ordered to do it on their own without sufficient international financial support. Renewable energy installations are in fact being put in everywhere, even the countries most firmly against them in public, most notably the US.
We will hear more from these Parties.
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Fires, floods, and fossil fuels - COP30 had it all. While many countries brought a meaningful contribution to this “annual global climate potluck,” a bloc of oil-producing nations prevented agreement on phasing out fossil fuels. COP30 reminded us that momentum comes from the ground up!
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— Katharine Hayhoe (@katharinehayhoe.com) November 26, 2025 at 11:38 AM
Restaurante da agricultura familiar serviu 52 mil refeições na COP30
[Family farm restaurant served 52,000 meals at COP30
- Initiative involved purchases from more than 50 community-based businesses
- The space offered complete meals for R$40 per person at the climate conference]
I thought that this was a terrible interview. Neither of them mentioned that Renewable Energy is cheaper than Fossil fuels until almost the end, but instead talked about how hopeless everything is because people are so messed up.
I have posted to Kolbert on Bluesky. We’ll see whether I can get through to her. I have a request in for her book at the local library, and will let you know what I find.
Elizabeth Kolbert - The Climate Crisis & “Life on a Little-Known Planet" | The Daily Show
Global Warming Catastrophes
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The UK is threatened by the loss of the Gulf Stream.
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Pakistan still relies on colonial-era flood defences, but climate change demands giving the Indus room to flow and adapt to the new normal.
By Riaz Missen
Read more: www.thefridaytimes.com/28-Nov-2025/...
#PakistanFloods #IndusRiver #climatechange #adaptation #Monsoon2025 #monsooncrisis #floods
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— The Friday Times (@thefridaytimes.bsky.social) November 28, 2025 at 4:10 AM
Good News from Elsewhere
🎩 Jessiestaf et al.
The world is clamoring for more electrons. It’s getting them from solar and wind.
Between January and September, the two clean-energy sources grew fast enough to more than offset all new demand worldwide, according to data from energy research firm Ember.
Power demand rose by 603 terawatt-hours compared to that same time period last year. Solar met nearly all that new demand on its own, increasing by 498 TWh. Wind generation, meanwhile, climbed by 137 TWh.
Solar and wind are kicking ass and taking names.
Heliox’s New DC Fast Charger Can Send Power Back To The Grid
The Siemens-owned business says its new compact charger is fully compatible with vehicle-to-grid international standards.
No New Nukes
Could be worse, but not by a lot.
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Solar and storage greenlit for gigantic new AI giga-campus along with gas and nuclear.
#solar #solarenergy #solarpower #energystorage #batteries #coal #windenergy #naturalgas #texas #ai #aicampus #datacenters #renewableenergy #nuclear #cleanenergy #cleanpower #ai
cleantechnica.com/2025/11/27/t...
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— Tina Casey (@tinamcasey.bsky.social) November 28, 2025 at 5:28 AM
Atomkraft? Nej takk.
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Labour: 'nuclear will reduce bills', yet..
"Hinkley C will add £1bn annually to UK energy bills...handed to French owner EDF...one of UK’s most expensive sources of electricity.
A further £1bn will be added to bills by a nuclear levy, supporting Sizewell C build"
www.telegraph.co.uk/business/202...
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— Together Against Sizewell C (@sayno2sizewellc.bsky.social) November 28, 2025 at 5:41 AM
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'Troubled Hinkley Point C #nuclear power station will add £1bn annually to UK energy bills. Money will be taken from consumers and handed to #EDF to subsidise operations, making it one of the UK’s most expensive sources of electricity.'
www.telegraph.co.uk/business/202...
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— Dr Paul Dorfman (@drpauldorfman.bsky.social) November 28, 2025 at 6:13 AM
Go ahead. You can fill in the blank, can't you?
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You know, tech likes to believe that if they invest in next gen nuclear plants, these things will come online to deliver energy just in time. This, despite the history of nuclear power taking at least 2x longer and more $ than original plans.
Those plans are silly. Instead, they should be […]
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— Spin D'Accord (@gkmizuno.mas.to.ap.brid.gy) November 28, 2025 at 5:46 AM
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Carney unfortunately also THINKS he is playing chess. People do not need chess right now they need honesty. Here's honesty: the world doesnt need a pipeline, Alberta's economy is in trouble if they don't expand renewables like wind & solar, not expensive nuclear: www.theenergymix.com/breaking-wit...
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— Conor Curtis (@conorcurtis.bsky.social) November 27, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Denial and Obstruction vs. Resistance and $$Real Money$$™
A world where the last three years are also the three warmest since we started measuring, then there is a parliamentary majority [in Norway] that _claims_ they recognize these changes as a man-made problem, but does not want to do anything about them.
'Corrosive pact': Trump's obsession is 'backfiring' on American oil companies
“In his total commitment to a hydrocarbon-heavy world, he has pushed not only domestic producers but also Saudi Arabia and the rest of the OPEC nations to keep pumping out more, more, more cheap oil,” said Shachtman. “That might be good news for consumers, offsetting some of these high electric rates. But with oil prices down to around $60 per barrel, American companies say they can’t afford to open up new wells, especially now that [Trump’s] tariffs have made drilling equipment so expensive. The total number of active rigs is down year over year.”
Gasoline prices are down under $3/gal. where I live. They vary considerably around the US and around the world.
Leave them under the ocean!
Different Kinds of Idiocy
