UAE Names Fossil Fuel Mogul to Lead U.N. Climate Talks

al_jaber
AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili
Frances Martel

The United Arab Emirates, which will host this year’s COP28 United Nations climate conference, named the head of its state oil company as the president of that summit on Thursday – outraging environmental activists who oppose the existence of all fossil fuels as a threat to the planet.

The Conference of the Parties (COP) is an annual summit typically held in November and run by the United Nations, hosted in a different country every year.

The Emirati government announced that it had tasked Sultan al-Jaber, its special envoy for climate change, with running COP28, expected to be hosted by the luxury resort destination Dubai.

“The president of each Cop summit has a crucial role in setting the agenda and forging a consensus among nations,” the Emirati newspaper the National explained.

Al-Jaber possesses many titles in the country in addition to running its climate change response. The longtime energy mogul is also formally the minister of industry and advanced technology. Al-Jaber also serves at the head of a clean energy initiative in the country known as Masdar. More critically, however, he is the CEO of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Co., the UAE’s state oil company, which is responsible for pumping about 4 million barrels of crude oil a day, according to left-wing U.S. state outlet NPR.

In a statement following the announcement that al-Jaber, believed to be close to UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (MBZ), was taking on another leadership role in the country, the official vowed to promote an “inclusive” approach to climate change.”

“We will champion an inclusive agenda that ramps up action on mitigation, encourages a just energy transition that leaves no one behind, ensures substantial, affordable climate finance is directed to the most vulnerable,” he promised, “accelerates funding for adaptation and builds out a robust funding facility to address loss and damage.”

“We will therefore take an inclusive approach that engages all stakeholders from the public and private sectors, civil society, scientific community, women, and youth,” al-Jaber concluded. “We must especially focus on how climate action can address the needs of the Global South, as those most impacted by climate change trends.”

Al-Jaber has repeatedly insisted that transitioning into a “green” global economy could not happen without ensuring the financial security of those most critically impacted by the destruction of prior industries. He has stated plainly that fossil fuels must be part of the “transition.”

“The expectation is that as renewables and low-carbon options become increasingly available they will replace traditional energy sources, even provide energy to those who have never had it,” al-Jaber said in an interview with the National published in September. “Even in a net zero emissions world, energy security requires that oil and gas be part of the mix.”

“Policymakers are beginning to understand the fact that the energy transition will not happen with the flip of a switch. They are ready for a pragmatic conversation on what a realistic energy transition looks like,” he said elsewhere in the interview, insisting that any “climate action” must be contingent upon energy security for those affected.

Global elites warmly embraced al-Jaber’s assumption of COP28 hosting responsibilities.

“Dr. Sultan is an experienced diplomat and businessperson, including as Chairman of Masdar, and this unique combination will help bring all of the necessary stakeholders to the table to move faster and at scale,” far-left environmentalist and special American envoy on climate change John Kerry said on Thursday in a statement congratulating the oil czar.

“Dr Al Jaber brings deep diplomatic and commercial experience through his work as the UAE’s special envoy on climate change and as the chairman of Masdar, a leading renewables company,” former British Prime Minister Tony Blair said in response to the announcement, according to the National. “I am confident that Dr Sultan has both the standing and the capability to offer groundbreaking leadership for Cop28.”

Hardline climate activists expressed disgust at his appointment.

“You wouldn’t invite arms dealers to lead peace talks. So why let oil executives lead climate talks?” Alice Harrison of the climate group Global Witness said in remarks quoted in the Qatari outlet al-Jazeera.

Harjeet Singh of Climate Action Network International similarly denounced al-Jaber’s appointment as “an unprecedented and alarming conflict of interest.” The executive director of that group, Tasneem Essop, described al-Jaber’s role as president of COP28 as “a full-scale capture of the U.N. climate talks by a petrostate national oil company and its associated fossil fuel lobbyists.

“This appointment goes beyond putting the fox in charge of the henhouse,” another climate activist, ActionAid climate justice official Teresa Anderson, lamented to the Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Last year’s version of the conference, COP27, was hosted by Egypt and featured a record number of fossil fuel lobbyists. Leftist tyrants such as Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro, whose nation has the world’s largest known oil reserves, and representatives of the Chinese Communist Party were welcome to speak. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned the elite attendees, who used over 400 private jets to get there, that earth was “on the highway to climate hell” without imminent action. Representatives from the government of China, the world’s worst polluting state actor, demanded wealthy countries offer climate “compensation” for their pollution, but refused to pay itself.

COP27 boasted 636 fossil fuel industry lobbyists, a number larger than the delegations of every participating country except for the UAE.

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