- Written by Navin Singh Khadka
- BBC World Service Environment Correspondent
image source, Getty Images
The United Arab Emirates has nominated Sultan Al Jaber, the head of a national oil company, to chair this year's United Nations climate change conference, COP28. But how can one man dedicate himself to both selling fossil fuels and tackling the climate crisis?
The UAE is one of the world's 10 largest oil producing countries. State oil company Adnoc pumped 2.7 million barrels of crude oil per day in 2021, according to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
But the company has bigger plans. The company aims to nearly double production to 5 million barrels per day by 2027, but CEO Sultan Al Jaber announced this goal two months ago from 2030 to 5 million barrels per day. It was brought forward.
“We are an emerging upstream company with a mandate to remain focused on exploring the UAE's untapped oil and gas potential,” Adnoc's website says.
Climate change activists and campaigners are therefore now asking how Mr Al Jaber can play an effective role as COP28 President. COP28 is a conference to assess the current status of each country in terms of efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
A United Nations assessment last year found that countries' current policies would increase emissions by 11% from 2010 levels by 2030, while reaching the goal of limiting temperature rise to 1.5 degrees would increase emissions by 43% from 2019 levels. Scientists say the results show a need to reduce emissions by nearly 20%. We need to reach pre-industrial revolution levels.
“This is the same as appointing the CEO of a tobacco company to oversee a conference on cancer cures,” said the global campaign director of 350.org, which campaigns for a complete end to the use of fossil fuels. , says Zeina Khalil Hajj.
“We are very concerned about opening the floodgates for greenwashing and oil and gas trading that continues to exploit fossil fuels. COP28 cannot become an exposition for the fossil fuel industry.”
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Germany cut imports of Russian gas last year and burned more coal.
Chiara Liguori, climate advisor at Amnesty International, also said the appointment sent the wrong signal.
“It is also a disappointing choice for everyone who hoped that COP28 would bring rapid progress on reducing carbon emissions and achieving climate justice,” she said.
But Al Jaber also wears another hat. He is the head of his Adnoc and the UAE's Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, as well as the Chairman of Masdar, a renewable energy company currently operating in more than 40 countries.
Founded in 2006, it primarily invests in solar and wind power projects with a total capacity of 15 gigawatts, capable of displacing more than 19 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually.
Like Adnoc, Masdar has ambitious plans, aiming to increase capacity to 100 gigawatts by 2030 and double that capacity in the coming years.
Unusually for a country whose economy depends primarily on oil and gas production, the UAE has pledged to become carbon neutral by 2050, but how will it achieve this goal or whether the country will It is not fully explained how this will work with Adnoc's plans to explore the energies of untapped oil and gas potential; (The UAE has confirmed oil reserves of 111 billion barrels.)
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Masdar builds low-carbon 'city' in Abu Dhabi
So how does Sultan Al Jaber reconcile these two challenges?
“The world needs maximum energy and minimum emissions,” he said in a speech at the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference in October.
“The world needs all the solutions available: oil, gas, solar, wind, nuclear, hydrogen, and clean energy not yet discovered, commercialized, or deployed.”
He said the UAE was approaching COP28 “with a strong sense of responsibility and the highest possible level of ambition,” state news agency WAM reported.
“We bring a practical, pragmatic and solutions-oriented approach to deliver transformative progress on climate change and low-carbon economic growth.”
At the start of the United Nations Climate Change Conference, delegates are given the opportunity to approve the president nominated by the host country. Normally, candidates are approved unanimously, and that could easily happen in the case of Sultan al-Jaber.
“People should not just see him as an evil producer of greenhouse gases,” Tosi Mpanu Mpanu, Democratic Republic of the Congo's chief climate negotiator and former leader of the Africa group at the climate council, told the BBC. Told.
“They also need to look at what he has done in the world of renewable energy. He understands both fossil fuels and decarbonization, and how we move towards renewable energy. I understand if I can make the transition.”
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Diplomats are more positive about Al Jaber's nomination than environmentalists
U.S. special envoy John Kerry tweeted that Al Jaber's “unique combination” of roles “will help us bring all necessary parties to the table and act faster and at scale.”
Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar congratulated Al Jaber in a tweet, saying, “Your comprehensive experience on energy and climate change bodes well for a successful COP28.”
Countries whose economies have been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic and have had to slow their transitions to clean energy will understandably not take issue with Al Jaber's appointment.
The same goes for countries that have increased their use of coal, one of the dirtiest fuels, in an effort to reduce their use of Russian gas. Some countries are spending billions to build infrastructure to import liquefied natural gas, suggesting they plan to remain dependent on fossil fuels for years to come.
When Qatar hosted COP18 in 2012, it nominated energy minister Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah as president, but his nomination was unchallenged.
Meanwhile, the climate crisis is now being addressed with even more urgency than it was 11 years ago.
The world is already 1.1 degrees warmer than before the industrial revolution, and scientists say the impacts, including extreme weather, are already “alarming”.
Several oil and gas exporting countries in the Middle East have been criticized at past COPs for not cooperating with ambitious decisions to reduce global carbon emissions.
There was criticism last year that hundreds of fossil fuel lobbyists were allowed to attend COP27 in Egypt, but the final decision only referred to phasing out coal use. The agreement did not mention phasing out the use of all fossil fuels, which many delegates considered a disappointment.
Climate change activists are therefore already wary of Jaber's selection and will be watching COP28, which begins on November 30, very closely. And unless significant progress is made in reducing emissions, criticism of the UN climate change process will increase.
