‘BREATHTAKINGLY HYPOCRITICAL’

Oil Boss Leading Climate Summit Planned to Use It for Petro Deals: BBC

Sultan al-Jaber’s appointment as director of COP28, hosted by the United Arab Emirates, had been blasted as inappropriate. It turns out the critics were right all along.

There was no shortage of raised eyebrows when it was announced two years ago that the United Arab Emirates—one of the world’s biggest oil producers—would be next in line to host the United Nations’ annual climate change jamboree.

Disbelief turned to anger with the confirmation earlier this year that the man chosen to preside over the COP28 summit, Sultan Ahmed al-Jaber, also happened to be boss of the UAE’s state oil company, Adnoc. In the words of one charity chief, that went well beyond “putting the fox in charge of the hen house.”

Officials in the Gulf state insisted that al-Jaber was the right man for the job and promised there would be no conflict between his roles as global climate negotiator and Middle Eastern oil and gas salesman.

But an independent investigation by the Center for Climate Reporting (CCR), in collaboration with the BBC, suggests the UAE oil boss has not just been confusing the roles but had always been planning to use the summit to lobby for new oil and gas deals for his company.

Three days ahead of the grand summit opening in Dubai on Thursday, the CCR reported Monday that it had obtained 150 pages of briefing documents prepared for al-Jaber ahead of meetings with “prominent government figures” due to attend COP28.

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According to BBC News, proposed “talking points” included one for China according to which Adnoc would be “willing to jointly evaluate international LNG [liquefied natural gas] opportunities” in Africa, North America, and even Australia.

Another document suggested that a Colombian minister be told that Adnoc was ready to help their country develop their fossil fuel reserves.

CCR said it had worked with the BBC to verify the authenticity of the documents, which it received from a whistleblower who wished to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation.

The independent reporting group said it was not clear how many times al-Jaber raised commercial issues in meetings over the past six months, but the briefing notes suggested that “he planned to raise commercial interests with almost 30 countries.”

CCR quoted climate policy expert Michael Jacobs, a professor at Sheffield University in the U.K., who said al-Jaber’s actions look “breathtakingly hypocritical.”

“The UAE at the moment is the custodian of a United Nations process aimed at reducing global emissions. And yet, in the very same meetings where it’s apparently trying to pursue that goal, it’s actually trying to do side deals which will increase global emissions,” he said.

The BBC reported that UAE officials did not deny that business matters might have been discussed in COP28 meetings but insisted that “private meetings are private.”

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