On Thursday, United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced the head of the state oil giant Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), one of the world’s largest oil companies, will lead the COP28 climate talks in Dubai later this year. However, this sparked a backlash from climate activists, experts and civil society groups.
An official statement read, “Under the directive of the President of the UAE, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Presidential Court, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber to serve as COP President.”
The UAE is a major OPEC oil exporter and will be the second Arab state to host the climate conference after Egypt in 2022.
Announcement Sparks Backlash
Sultan al-Jaber is UAE's minister of industry and technology and the Director-General and CEO of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company. However, climate activists across the globe have spoken up against the appointment.
In a tweet, Harjeet Singh, a climate justice advocate referred to the appointment as 'outrageously regressive and deeply problematic'. He added that fossil fuels are the root cause of the climate crisis.
In a statement, Tasneem Essop, Executive Director, Climate Action Network International said, "If he does not step down as CEO, it will be tantamount to a full scale capture of the UN climate talks by a petrostate national oil company and its associated fossil fuel lobbyists.”
R R Rashmi, Distinguished Fellow, TERI said that the appointment is an ‘interesting development’. He said, UAE is an OPEC member country with an ambition to achieve net zero carbon goal by 2050 while simultaneously sustaining oil production. In the backdrop of deepening climate crisis, the choice of CoP President is apparently guided by UAE's keenness to skillfully balance the conflicting goals of its oil based economy with those of global goals of reducing emissions and addressing climate change. However, the solutions such as CCS espoused by the oil industry of which ADNOC CEO is a representative are rather controversial and less convincing."
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