A sphinxlike term keeps popping up in discourse around phasing out fossil fuels: “unabated.” Easily overlooked, it’s an important modifier that changes an ambitious demand — stop burning fossil fuels — into phrases with more elusive meanings.

The European Union has decided it will push for the phasing out of unabated fossil fuels at COP28 in Dubai. More than 130 businesses, collectively worth almost $1 trillion, signed a letter this week calling for governments to commit to the full discontinuance of unabated hydrocarbons. US climate envoy John Kerry has pressed for the end of new unabated coal-fired power plants. 

Read more: bloomberg.com

Photo: bloomberg.com