“I would not be surprised if fossil fuels were in the final text of the COP,” explains the president of the IPCC

2023-12-08 17:30:55

The president of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Jim Skea, during a press conference organized with the UAE president of COP28 in Dubai on December 4, 2023. KARIM SAHIB / AFP

INTERVIEW – Jim Skea, president of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), recalls that it is still possible to respect the Paris agreement to limit warming.

The Scotsman Jim Skea took over this summer as head of the IPCC – the largest group of climate experts, mandated by the UN – while the current decade is decisive in the fight against global warming. Currently present in Dubai, he is the guarantor of scientific discourse during this COP28.

LE FIGARO. – On Monday, you were alongside the president of COP28 during a press briefing where he had to reaffirm his attachment to science, after having sparked controversy by saying that« no scientific study says that the exit from fossil fuels will allow us to reach 1.5 °C » warming. Was this clarification important? ?

Jim SKEA. – I was invited to participate in this press conference as it focused on the role of science. On behalf of the IPCC, I accepted with pleasure since obviously what the science says on this subject was perhaps not clear to everyone. We therefore had the opportunity to recall it frankly and…

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