One of the most important issues in questions surrounding fossil fuel extraction is whether the rich nations who benefited from its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions will now help poor countries with oil reserves so they do not need to contribute to GHG.
This year’s COP29 is being held in Baku, Azerbaijan, a poor country with lots and lots of oil. In Baku, President Iham Aliyev pledged to increase oil production by a third while Exxon’s CEO Darren Woods urged companies and nations to look to alternatives.
It’s really good publicity for Exxon, which has urged Trump not to back out of the 1997 Paris climate accords because although Exxon plans to spend 10% of its development budget on fossil fuel alternatives, other companies are spending more. And Exxon says it will follow the market – sound like it’s trying to serve two masters.
Prayer for the Day
Hoping to control the future ignoring the grace you offer us,
Often we ignore your direction for our lives;
Trying to pull you, O God, into the world we create,
We disregard your Word for our lives.
Move us beyond our preoccupation with ourselves,
And focus us on the world all around.
In the name of the One who opens our vision of you,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
Climate change is a cumulative problem. That means that with every year of delay, there is additional warming that we commit our planet to. Now is the time that we need to take action.
Joeri Rogelj, Director, Grantham Institute, London
We can't give them any legitimacy in this situation, which is why we are standing here and saying no to greenwashing and no to the Azerbaijani regime.
Greta Thunberg, protesting COP29’s location in Baku
The eye is the lamp of the body, so if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light;
But if your eye is unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness
If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness
No one can serve two masters for a slave will either hate the one and love the other,
Or be devoted to the one and serve the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.
Jesus in Matthew 6:22-24