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Canadian politicians and civil society groups have condemned the United Arab Emirates’ decision to let oil company chief executives lead this year’s international climate talks.
The UAE is hosting the annual UN climate conference and it was recently announced that ADNOC Industry Minister and CEO Sultan Al Jaber would chair the key climate negotiating forum.
Canadian climate watchers are appalled that an oil company giant from a country deeply invested in fossil fuel production has been chosen to host a meeting where countries come together to chart a course for reducing global warming pollution for the good of the world.
Catherine Abreu, founder of climate advocacy group Destination Zero, told the Canadian National Observer that, as CEO, Al Jaber has a responsibility to maximize profits from oil and gas extraction for his state-owned company.
“This interest is in direct conflict with the supposed interest of the COP president, who is getting the most ambitious possible outcome from these climate negotiations,” Abreu said. The U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change does not have any conflict of interest policy to address the issue, she said, marking the first time an oil industry executive has taken the top job at a U.N. climate summit.
Canada’s Green Party leader Elizabeth May said Al Jaber should step down as Petronas chief executive and “dedicate 100 per cent” to the “critical role” of COP chair, which would require “substantial work”, echoing calls from some civil society groups.
The only mitigating factor is that Al Jabar has two hats on energy. In addition to his CEO duties, he also serves as chairman of renewable energy company Abu Dhabi Future Energy, also known as Masdar. The company website says it drives innovation in clean technology and is taking a “smart first mover approach to green hydrogen”.
That somewhat eased her “fear of the whole situation,” May said.
“Unfortunately, we are meeting in the United Arab Emirates, to be blunt,” May told the Canadian National Observer, noting that the UN system has rotations in every region of the world. “It’s certainly not ideal when the meeting is held in a country that is heavily promoting fossil fuels.”
The recent UN climate conference in Egypt was criticized for the attendance of more than 600 fossil fuel lobbyists. The host country has a big influence on the outcome of the negotiations, May said.
Every five years, the UN takes turns bringing climate meetings to Poland, which May said would lead to “bad COP because Poland is a coal-industrial country that doesn’t support the success of phasing out coal and phasing out fossil fuels.”
She predicted a similar problem at COP28 in the UAE, one of the world’s top 10 oil producers and as of 2019 ranked fourth in per capita emissions behind Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait. However, “the pressure now on the country and the president and the reaction to his appointment could push them in a good direction,” May mused.
In 2021, the UAE will produce 3.8 million barrels of oil per day, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. In 2020, the oil and gas industry accounted for 30% of the UAE’s GDP, with abundant oil and gas reserves.
“Can we really trust the next COP president to drive progress on climate change?” Bloc Québécois environmental critic Monique Pauzé told the Canadian National Observer in an emailed statement. “Right now, the oil lobby is making too much progress and doing enormous harm to the entire planet.”
“…Let the representatives of this industry preside over (COP28), that was the last straw!” Pauzé’s statement reads. Pauzé believes a multilateral diplomatic effort by the federal government to overturn the nomination is “required,” but she doubts Canada will follow through.
A spokesman for Environment Canada said in a statement that federal Environment Minister Steven Gilbeau “looks forward” to a meeting with the president later this year to “start advancing an ambitious agenda.” “We are more committed than ever to supporting the global transition to cleaner, renewable energy and away from fossil fuels.”
The UAE aims to generate nearly half of its energy from renewable sources by 2050, with six hydrogen projects under development as of October 2022. Its Energy Strategy 2050 says 38 percent of the country’s energy will come from natural gas, 6 percent from nuclear power and 12 percent from coal and carbon capture technologies.
NDP environmental critic Laurel Collins said she was “disappointed” but not surprised the federal government had not publicly opposed Al Jaber’s nomination.
“Unfortunately, this is what we’re seeing in Canada and around the world, where governments are listening to what oil executives and big oil companies have to say about the interests of their own citizens,” Collins told the Canadian National Observer in a phone interview.
At COP27, more than 80 countries called for a commitment to phase out fossil fuels in the final agreement. This year, Abreu expects each of those countries — including Canada, which backed the call at the 11th hour — to discuss with their Emirati counterparts how they plan to ensure climate negotiations are not disrupted to the same degree. Fossil fuel interest that we saw last year or years ago.
“If we continue to allow the UNFCCC to be dominated by interests that prefer the status quo, the ability of countries to engage in dialogue will continue to be precluded,” Abreu said.
She said there were also questions that countries and civil society groups could use to test the UAE in the run-up to COP28.
“Will we move forward with the conversation started at COP27 on phasing out fossil fuels? Will the UAE take action to limit the influence of the fossil fuel lobbyists…or will we see this number even grow from last year?” asked Abreu.
One concrete thing the UAE could do as an act of goodwill is divert the billions of dollars of windfall profits it makes from oil and gas revenues into climate finance, she pointed out, referring to Barbados, which in November called for an oil and gas The company puts one percent of its profits into a fund to help pay for damages caused by climate change.
This year’s climate talks will be particularly important, May said, as countries assess whether the world is on track to meet their climate goals.
Conservative environmental critic Gérard Deltell declined to comment.
Natasha Bulowski, Canadian National Observer, Local News Initiative reporter
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