Having the Cake (And Eating It)!

If the planet is to stand any chance of avoiding 'runaway climate change', there has to be a rapid transition from burning coal; oil and gas. It consequently seems obvious that "rich countries with relatively low dependence on fossil fuel revenues should be the first to stop issuing licences" (to drill for oil and gas). The opposite is happening. More than eighty percent of all new licences are currently handed out by wealthy nations (almost 1,500 by the US alone). Many of these licences are issued by governments that present themelves as 'world leaders' in the battle against global heating (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/jul/24/new-oil-gas-emission-data-us-uk). This behaviour isn't, to put it mildly, setting a very good example. Greed seems to have trumped logic. An analysis by Jonathon Watts concludes, that "Western countries that got rich on fossil fuels should lead the transition, not copy petrostates". Petrostates often have few options. That's certainly not true of the countries that have benefited from long periods of industrialisation. They seem to 'want to have their cake and eat it'. Perhaps, a tad hypocritical?