Fossil fuels from ancient ecosystems — more action and fewer mistruths needed now

Ironically, the head of the current climate change Cop28 also told Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland, former UN special envoy for climate change, and chair of ‘the Elders’ group, that he would only engage in "mature conversation". I doubt this young oil executive realises just what a fool he made of himself and his industry, even if he has since corrected the blatant mistruth of his statements.

Just to be clear, here, there is ample, undisputed scientific evidence that fossil fuels must be phased out to curb global heating and that new fossil fuel project development is not compatible with the world sustaining any kind of hope of keeping global temperature rises below 1.5 degrees, as agreed by world leaders in Paris in 2015. There is widespread hope that the summit will reach an agreement for a phase-out of fossil fuels.

Less talked about is the necessity to ‘soak up’ carbon that has been pumped into the atmosphere since the advent of the industrial revolution more than 200 years ago, from the burning of fossil fuels so far. Every particle of carbon dioxide released by the burning of fossil fuels remains in the atmosphere until removed by oceanic phytoplankton; other oceanic ecosystems such as eelgrass meadows; and terrestrial ecosystems such as forests and peat bogs.

Fossil fuels are, after all, made from the partially degraded remains of ancient ecosystems on land and in the sea. The hydrocarbons in coal, oil, and natural gas are all the products of photosynthesis by organisms that lived millions of years ago — terrestrial and marine plants captured the sun's energy and turned it into potential chemical energy. Over millions of years, fossilised wood became coal. Aquatic phytoplankton and zooplankton from ancient epochs became petroleum and natural gas. Through geological time, these carbon-rich substances have been safely locked away under layers of rock and ocean.

Since the 1700s, we have been bringing this carbon back into circulation, extracting and burning fossil fuels releases and releasing their concentrated chemical energy into the earth’s finely balanced atmosphere. The combination of market forces with these fossil fuels has allowed humans to achieve far greater levels of productivity than ever before, accelerating the plundering of forests, oceans, soils across the globe, leaving our global community now with an urgent though near impossible challenge to reorient these apocalyptic juggernauts.

Were we to immediately stop burning all fossil fuels, it would still take many thousands of years for the existing excess of carbon dioxide to be sequestered out of the atmosphere — yet the extent of future global heating is entirely dependent on how much more fossil fuels we choose to burn. If current production projections proceed as planned, there will be around 240% more coal, 57% more oil, and 71% more gas than would be consistent with limiting global warming to 1.5°C. How to go about keeping these fuels in the ground is what the advisors and decision-makers at Cop28 are negotiating and figuring out.

Removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere will not be achieved by imaginary carbon capture and storage technologies that lull so many people into complacency. Sequestration of already emitted atmospheric carbon will be removed by nature’s own design — by healthy ecosystems across the globe. Natural ecosystems, with all their interdependent components of probing plant roots, subterranean fungal communities, blankets of moss, and tangled webs of life, have been regulating the balance of carbon dioxide, oxygen, and methane in the atmosphere since long before humans — or even dinosaurs — ever arrived on the scene. Natural communities of plants have been effectively maintaining global surface temperatures within the range that makes life on earth possible. These are the very same ecosystems being drained, cleared, burned, and otherwise destroyed at an accelerating rate.

In Ireland, there is an enormous task of restoring natural woodland cover, rewetting peat bogs, and allowing organic soils to resume the task of carbon sequestration too. As a rich nation, with among the lowest extent of natural ecosystems in the world, there is little excuse not to act.

There are many ‘fronts’ to this battle, and many types of action are needed to meet this global existential threat. We must not continue to disregard the role of natural ecosystems as a key ally in both climate change mitigation and adaptation. And with fossil fuels responsible for more than 70% of greenhouse gas emissions, the world needs to see agreement at COP28 in Dubai to phase out the burning of fossil fuels and agree radical action for the protection and restoration of natural ecosystems.

Ireland, now one of the richest nations in the world, has a strong record of global diplomacy and a clear responsibility to act ethically in this challenge. Internationally, we can play a significant role strategic global push toward corrective action. For example, Ireland has joined with the ‘ Beyond Oil & Gas Alliance’ of 10 countries, led by Costa Rica and Denmark, collectively advocating for the phasing out of fossil fuels.

This is what rational intelligent action looks like. There is no excuse not to act now.