Contending with Global Warming in the Pipeline,
and Beyond

At the outset of COP28, CPR Initiative’s Dan Galpern warned that the nations had “better not fail,” and specifically pointed to the recent study, “Global Warming in the Pipeline,” as relevant context for the hard negotiations to follow.

Dan is CPR Initiative’s General Counsel and Executive Director. His December 3, 2023 remarks were taped at a side-event of COP28 in Dubai, following a pre-recorded video presentation from Pipeline’s principal author, Dr. James E. Hansen.

The program also featured Regina Valdez of the Climate Emergency Forum. CEC later published the program on December 28th, 2023.

For his part, Dr. Hansen emphasized the significant increase in Earth’s energy imbalance, linking it, in part, to reduced aerosol cooling due to regulations on sulfur emissions from ships. He highlighted the implications, predicting that ambient temperatures will exceed the 1.5-degree Celsius warming benchmark within the next couple of years, and emphasized the need for political action, including a rising carbon fee and consideration of climate interventions to actually, if temporally, restore energy balance.

And for his part, Dan – who also serves as Dr. Hansen’s long-time legal and policy adviser – expanded on Dr. Hansen’s message, calling for a complete phase-out of fossil fuel production and utilization. He stressed the inadequacy of mere emission reductions and the importance of rapidly decarbonizing major nations, emphasizing the need for an orderly phase-out of fossil fuels. During the Q&A session, an audience member raised concerns about the underlying capitalist system and its impact on efficient energy production. Dan responded by advocating for fair pricing of fossil fuels, in conjunction with additional regulatory action to phase out oil, gas and coal – even within the present economic paradigm.

The discussion also touched on climate justice, with Dan pointing to the common but differentiated responsibilities of nations – as outlined in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, and also the need for increased funding to address loss and damage, especially for less developed countries. Overall, the session highlighted the pressing need for immediate and transformative action to address climate change, both in terms of reducing emissions and adapting to the unavoidable impacts.