COP28 Comedy: Oil Consultants Accused of Being Big Oil Shills

Essay by Eric Worrall

The farce is strong with this climate conference.

Top consultancy undermining climate change fight: whistleblowers

November 8, 2023 – 3:42AM

The world’s top management consultancy McKinsey & Company is using its position as a key advisor to the UN’s COP28 climate talks to push the interests of its big oil and gas clients, undermining efforts to end the use of the fossil fuels driving global warming, according to multiple sources and leaked documents.

Behind closed doors, the US-based firm has proposed future energy scenarios to the agenda setters of the summit that are at odds with the climate goals it publicly espouses, an AFP investigation has found.

An “energy transition narrative” drafted by the firm and obtained by AFP only reduces oil use by 50 percent by 2050, and calls for trillions in new oil and gas investment per year from now until then.

“But it was very clear from an early stage that McKinsey had a conflict of interest,” said a source who took part in COP28 presidency discussions.  

“They would give advice at the highest levels that was not in the best interest of the COP president as the leader of a multilateral climate agreement, but in the best interest of the COP president as the CEO of one of the region’s biggest oil and gas companies.”

Read more: https://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/top-consultancy-undermining-climate-change-fight-whistleblowers/news-story/70dab13683a9429ccd426ca2edcb2691

I’m starting to wish I’d bought a ticket.

The whole conference is being run by Sultan Al Jaber, in between Al Jaber running Abu Dhabi’s national oil company – the same company which announced a $150 billion investment in gas production in November last year.

Now a big oil consultancy which offered its services for free has been accused of schilling for big oil.

This comedy climate conference is lurching between absurdities, and it hasn’t even started yet. I’m looking forward to the floor show.

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Bruce Cobb
November 8, 2023 2:07 pm

It is positively Kafkaesque in its absurdity.

Richard Page
Reply to  Bruce Cobb
November 8, 2023 2:18 pm

Yeah if you have to start to list all conflicts of interest for every delegate it could take years. Maybe that’s the floor show – guessing the most outrageous conflict of interest!

max
Reply to  Bruce Cobb
November 8, 2023 3:23 pm

Eat ze bugs, bugs!

R Taylor
Reply to  Bruce Cobb
November 8, 2023 5:51 pm

Will anyone dare to ask John Kerry to comment on the all-time records being set for US crude production?

Energywise
November 8, 2023 2:09 pm

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/nov/01/king-charles-to-give-opening-address-cop28-climate-summit-uae

Why is KC attending COP28? Well, we know why
Of course, as British Monarch, he should remain apolitical, as his mum did
He just cannot help himself because the Crown Estate make £millions every year from renting out UK seabeds to off shore wind farm developers – the firm made some £100Mn in 2022 from just that
Its self serving hypocrisy – the RF have a combined carbon footprint akin far in excess of normal natives – their fleet of ships, jets, helicopters, cars, homes etc etc don’t come cheap

Energywise
Reply to  Energywise
November 8, 2023 2:10 pm

If he returns with carrier bags, we know it was a good trip

Richard Page
Reply to  Energywise
November 8, 2023 2:20 pm

He shouldn’t be attending at all. Well he’ll be gone in a few years and junior can have a go at it.

Redge
Reply to  Richard Page
November 8, 2023 8:57 pm

Junior is just as bad

I used to be a monarchist, but it’s time for them to be replaced with the cast of Sesame Street

PariahDog
Reply to  Redge
November 9, 2023 12:14 am

Yeah, my respect for the Royals ended with the late Queen.

Scissor
Reply to  Redge
November 9, 2023 5:47 am

Big Bird has always been a yellow dork.

Dave Andrews
Reply to  Energywise
November 9, 2023 6:29 am

The Crown Estate is an independent commercial business created by an act of Parliament in 1961. It is not owned by the Royal family which is not involved in running it. It generates revenue for the Government – some £2.6bn over the last 10 years.

The Sovereign Grant set up in 2011 benchmarks how much money the Royal household receives and currently stands at 25% of profits applied 2 years in arrears. That may be increased in coming years since Buckingham Palace needs a multi million upgrade.

Richard Page
Reply to  Dave Andrews
November 9, 2023 7:26 am

It has been increased – the late Queen arranged it a few years ago and, when it took effect, the usual idjits were outraged that the Royals were taking more money. It’s all going to upgrade and renovate Buckingham House which is owned by the nation, not the Royals in a weird convoluted manner. Not sure any other countries head of state’s residence, owned by the people, insists on the head of state funding repairs out of their own pocket. Bizarre.

Edward Katz
November 8, 2023 2:15 pm

Anyone wondering why, despite 27 previous COP conferences, global emissions have kept rising he just needs to read this article. Meetings like these are just opportunities for politicians, academics, climate alarmists and assorted hangers-on to get together for an often taxpayer-funded gabfest with out them having to show any positive results. It’s a nice deal for those who can get it.

J Boles
November 8, 2023 2:20 pm

Isn’t that the way with free energy/money schemes? They always grow in to the most ridiculous self-contradictory circuses. The farce factor grows daily.

Rud Istvan
November 8, 2023 2:23 pm

Fun memories.
I was the most senior and biggest rainmaker ‘partner’ at BCG back in the day. McKinsey was always the most direct competition for big consulting projects. I won about 80% of the time by pointing out their conflicts of interest. BCG had a policy of only working for one client in an industry (so, FedEx not UPS, Navistar not Mack or GM…); McKinsey would work for all (and could not prove there wasn’t ‘info leakage’ since we had several proven examples where it had.

Raising this at COP28, hosted by the head of its country’s oil company, is rich irony. No wonder McKinsey got the assignment. Fit right in.

J Boles
November 8, 2023 2:28 pm

The warmunists always claim that global warming is accelerating, yet the only thing accelerating is their shrill warnings and lying.

Rud Istvan
Reply to  J Boles
November 8, 2023 3:08 pm

Yup, a bit of a warmunist fact problem.

  1. SLR not accelerating.
  2. Arctic summer sea ice not accelerated to disappearance.
  3. No accelerating increase in weather extremes.
  4. Accelerating renewables prove ruinables.
  5. Accelerated climate wailing proves very irritating (XR, JSO and ilk).
Rod Evans
Reply to  Rud Istvan
November 9, 2023 12:33 am

Rud,
you forgot to mention the increasing incidents of ‘wild fires’ on car transporters caused by the warmunists desire for ‘cable cars’. Oh sorry, they didn’t claim an increase in car transporter wild fires, my bad.
On the plus side I have thought of a whole new business opportunity. Parking a hot dog/ice cream van next to the public charging lots that are springing up at public expense. When people have an hour of waiting to get on the charger station plus an hour being charged up they will have loads of time to have a coffee, hot dog and burger (all vegan of course :)) then an ice cream to round out the midnight ‘charge my car’ routine.
Isn’t progress of civilisation fascinating…..?

Krishna Gans
November 8, 2023 3:02 pm

Is that a tragicomedy or a farce ? 😀
So many idiots at one place and they all feel soooo good.

CD in Wisconsin
Reply to  Krishna Gans
November 8, 2023 4:25 pm

Is that a tragicomedy or a farce ? 😀

Yes.
If I were to attend, I would have a difficult time keeping a straight face through all the speeches.

Graemethecat
Reply to  CD in Wisconsin
November 9, 2023 8:33 am

I think I would have difficulty staying awake.

KevinM
November 8, 2023 3:18 pm

What’s the difference between a consultant and a shill? I understand shill is an unpleasant-sounding word but technically the words seem similar.

Tom Abbott
Reply to  KevinM
November 8, 2023 5:09 pm

Definition: “an accomplice of a hawker, gambler, or swindler who acts as an enthusiastic customer to entice or encourage others.”

A shill is dishonest. A consultant may or may not be dishonest.

Rod Evans
Reply to  Tom Abbott
November 9, 2023 1:06 am

The definition would have been less wordy if they had simply said. John Kerry….

Joseph Zorzin
November 8, 2023 3:33 pm

“… calls for trillions in new oil and gas investment…

investments- not subsidies- big difference

RickWill
November 8, 2023 3:33 pm

An “energy transition narrative” drafted by the firm and obtained by AFP only reduces oil use by 50 percent by 2050, and calls for trillions in new oil and gas investment per year from now until then.

In other words, you cannot make an omelette without breaking a few eggs.

In fact, reality is even worse than this fanciful dream. Sit in the middle of a solar farm and survey the horizon.- solar panels as far as the eye can see. Go to a recent windfarm and stand under a wind turbine – these are truly massive machines and millions are needed. Then think about the power lines to get the dispersed power to HUMUNGOUS battery parks then onto consumers. All this equipment is massively resource intensive. Beyond anything ever imagined before.

If it could all be built in the next 26 years, it would all need to be replaced before the next 26 years so it becomes a never ending spiral into human oblivion chasing a fantasy.

scvblwxq
Reply to  RickWill
November 8, 2023 7:51 pm

Bloomberg’s green-energy research team estimated it would cost $US200 Trillion to stop Global Warming by 2050. 

There is only $US40 trillion in cash, checking, and savings in the world.

There are about 2 billion households in the world, so that is $US100,000 per household. 

Ninety percent of the world’s households can’t afford anything additional so the households in developed nations will have to pay 10 times as much to cover it.

That means about $US 1 million per household in developed countries or about $US 33,000 per year for 30 years. The working people can’t afford anything near that. 

The millionaires and billionaires have about $US208 billion. That would cover it, but they won’t give up their wealth.
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2023-07-05/-200-trillion-is-needed-to-stop-global-warming-that-s-a-bargain#xj4y7vzkg

Of course, the Earth is still in a 2.55 million-year ice age named the Quaternary Glaciation, 20% of the land is frozen, and it snows ice crystals every year.

DMacKenzie
Reply to  scvblwxq
November 8, 2023 8:55 pm

Don’t make it worse than it is…..ice crystals only fall on about 2/3 of the planet every orbit around the sun.

Richard Page
Reply to  scvblwxq
November 9, 2023 7:31 am

That, as RickWill points out, is $US200 Trillion every 26 years, not a one-off payment, even if it could all be built in 26 years.

Dennis Gerald Sandberg
Reply to  RickWill
November 9, 2023 10:07 am

Well said Rick, I’ve been saying the same thing for 20 years, just not as eloquently. Nice job.

Bob
November 8, 2023 3:42 pm

Two things, number one McKinsey and Company needs to be taken to the wood shed for implying a 50% reduction of fossil fuels by 2050 is a good thing. Number two anyone connected to AFP should have all ICE vehicles taken from them, have all gas shut off for their homes and offices, should be banned from travel on any platform using fossil fuel and should have their homes and offices metered so that they only receive the proportion of electricity that is generated by wind and solar and only when wind and solar are producing.

Ronald Stein
November 8, 2023 5:13 pm

There are approximately 17K international airports according to World Airport Traffic in 2018.
In addition, just in the USA there are a total of 4653 Military airports in the United States.

Got a substitue for the crude oil that can be refined into aviation fuels? 

Scissor
Reply to  Ronald Stein
November 9, 2023 5:55 am

Methane, ethane, etc., can be built up to just about any class of organic compounds if the economics are right.

Andy Pattullo
November 8, 2023 5:45 pm

It must be so frustrating when you truly believe in magic and witchcraft but others cling to their reliance on science and economic reality. Some medication may be needed to smooth the dissonance in the minds of the climate catastrophists. But this discomfort is nothing compared to what they will experience when it becomes blindingly obvious that the climate and the planet are just fine and no amount of green acrobatics will make a shred of difference to the trajectory of Earth’s climate story.

John Hultquist
Reply to  Andy Pattullo
November 8, 2023 6:59 pm

Isn’t it getting toward the time when the big names begin to check out?
Tom Wigley, born 1940
James Hansen, 1941
Joe Biden, 1942
John Kerry, 1943
Al Gore, 1948
António Guterres, 1949
Christiana Figueres, 1956

Scissor
Reply to  Andy Pattullo
November 9, 2023 5:57 am

Magic carpets are the transportation of the future if we listen to the Al and John show.

flogage
November 8, 2023 7:13 pm

Who is paying McKinesey? They don’t work for free, normally.

Walter Sobchak
November 8, 2023 7:31 pm

“Now a big oil consultancy which offered its services for free has been accused of schilling for big oil.”

I think you meant shilling as a form of shill: “to act as a spokesperson or promoter” not as in one of the coins of the traditional English monetary syste.

A schilling was, before the introduction of the euro in 2002, the basic monetary unit of Austria.

Richard Page
Reply to  Walter Sobchak
November 9, 2023 7:34 am

Schilling is a germanic form of currency, the english coin was a shilling.

Keitho
Editor
November 8, 2023 9:13 pm

This is absolutely priceless. The COPs were always exercises in expensive futility but this repurposing into a marketing opportunity for Big Oil is so brazen you have to admire the chutzpah of those Arabs. What a time to be alive.

bobpjones
November 8, 2023 10:44 pm

Who cares what the host does, when you’re going to a very expensive party.

Javier Vinós
November 9, 2023 2:16 am

If we don’t invest lotsa money in new oil and gas we are going to have a huge problem, all of us. It is absurd that this cannot be said openly and has to be said behind closed doors. Our collective rears depend on it. As long as our population is increasing either we increase our energy production or we collapse. It is that simple.

Gunga Din
November 11, 2023 6:42 pm

I’d trust a Big Oil “shill” over a Green Snake Oil Shill any day.

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