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The United Arab Emirates has nominated the head of its state oil company to be president of the United Nations climate summit, COP28, in Dubai, raising concerns about conflicts of interest..
Sultan al-Jaber, who also oversees Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy efforts, is now CEO of Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. The company pumps about four million barrels of crude oil a day and hopes to increase that to five million a day.
Al-Jaber, who is trusted by UAE leader Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, also once led a project to have a $22 billion “carbon neutral” city on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi. The effort came after the 2008 global financial crisis hit the Emirates. Today, he is chairman of Masdar, the clean energy company that grew out of the project.
His nomination was immediately criticized, with some calling for him to step down from his position at the oil company at least for the duration of COP28.
“He cannot lead the process tasked with addressing the climate crisis with a conflict of interest, leading the industry responsible for the crisis,” said Tasneem Essop, executive director of Climate Action Network International.
Alice Harrison of Global Witness was even more blunt: “You wouldn’t invite arms dealers to lead peace talks. So why are oil executives leading climate talks?”
Greenpeace said it was “deeply surprised” by al-Jaber’s appointment, adding: “It sets a dangerous precedent, endangering the credibility of the UAE and the trust placed in it.”
Al-Jaber called for a pragmatic approach
Others suggest that being the chairman of an oil company and advocating for climate action should not be mutually exclusive.
“Sultan al-Jaber has the credentials and the background to lean into the trends that have been going on,” said Ryan Bohl, a Mideast analyst for the risk intelligence firm RANE Network.
“He’s an oilman, I don’t think it’s going to be a big risk for him.”
Yvo de Boer, former executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, voiced his support for the nomination, saying al-Jaber “has been instrumental” in green innovation and renewable energy.
The Emirati state-run WAM news agency quoted al-Jaber as saying that “it will be a critical year in a critical decade for climate action.”
Al-Jaber called for a “pragmatic, realistic and solution-oriented approach” to limit global warming to just 1.5 C by 2050. Scientists say limits could prevent or at least reduce some of the harms of future climate change.
Usually, the country that hosts the UN negotiations known as the Conference of the Parties chooses a veteran diplomat to lead the summit, because the talks can be very difficult to navigate between competing countries and their interests. The position of the nominee as “president of the COP” is confirmed by the delegation at the beginning of the negotiations, usually without objection.
COP28 will be held in Dubai’s Expo City from 30 November to 12 December.
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