As the world takes stock of the year’s progress toward net zero ahead of the COP28 summit in Dubai next month, it is clear the energy transition is picking up pace but not at the scale needed to rein in the expected growth in global emissions. Despite this truth, discussion has been mired by irrational climate activists who ignore the reality that the fossil fuel industry will play an indispensable role in avoiding and reducing emissions worldwide.

Oil and gas companies continue to face an unjustified onslaught of criticism, which has only intensified as we approach COP28. Many detractors have called for these companies to be excluded from participating at COP28 and other multilateral climate fora, as well as for an outright end to fossil fuel production. These calls are rooted in activists’ mischaracterization of the science, which suggests that to meet the world’s emissions reduction goals, unmitigated fossil fuels should be significantly curtailed, not eliminated.

Activists' irrational arguments ignore the critical role of oil and gas companies in the global energy system, both as producers of affordable, reliable, and cleaner energy and as leaders actively deploying low-carbon solutions to accelerate emission reductions.

Unsurprisingly, the calls to end fossil fuel production also do not align with the latest forecasts of fossil fuel consumption, which point to substantial demand for the foreseeable future. This enduring role will be most acutely felt in hard-to-abate sectors, such as transportation and manufacturing, and in emerging economies that often lack access to affordable, reliable, and secure energy to power their daily lives and economic development.

The question, therefore, is how best to square this unrelenting market demand for fossil fuels with the need to reduce global emissions. Far from being the root of all evil, oil and gas companies, especially those in the private sector, are ideally placed to address this complex challenge and square the market reality with the need to reduce emissions.

Already, these companies have been investing significantly in low-carbon and emissions-removal technologies. Building out these solutions is no mean feat, and the oil and gas industry is one of few that have the technical expertise and the capital required to deploy carbon reducing and capturing technologies at speed and at scale.

This is evident if we examine progress made in the carbon capture and storage space. Progress in recent years has been driven almost entirely by industry, which continues to deploy large-scale projects at pace across the globe. Research suggests there are more than 150 carbon capture and storage projects at various stages of development, and oil and gas majors are rolling out innovative, lower carbon solutions to streamline production and reduce emissions.

If the world is truly serious about reducing and removing emissions from our atmosphere, without severely destabilizing global energy security, then technologies such as carbon capture and storage are imperative. Most long-term energy outlooks note that a rapid expansion of these technologies is essential to reduce emissions. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, for example, views the deployment of carbon dioxide removal technologies as "unavoidable" to reach net zero. This cannot and will not be possible without the involvement of private sector companies, which have already proven themselves to be innovation leaders and capable of investing the estimated $2.3 trillion needed to meet climate goals.

Oil and gas companies have a pivotal role to play in continuing to develop and deploy the technologies needed to secure our future. Calls to ban or curb all fossil fuel production present a false choice that risks curtailing the momentum we are already experiencing and penalizing the very energy companies that are leading the charge to capturing and reducing emissions while strengthening global energy security.

We need feasible policy solutions and robust political action, as opposed to irrational and dangerous posturing from climate activists. We must strike a careful balance between meeting continued oil and gas demand, lowering emissions, and preventing hostile states from embedding themselves in global energy supply chains. Thus, pursuing an inclusive multilateral process can tear down the barriers that hinder the global cooperation that is so desperately needed.

George David Banks is the former GOP chief strategist on the House Climate Committee and climate adviser to Presidents George W. Bush and Donald Trump.