‘The fox guards the chicken coop’ – Anger at UAE Oil Sultan leading COP climate talks

President

Al Jaber is not expected to relinquish his post; instead, he has political support from other countries. In an interview with Spanish international news agency EFE, European Commission Green Deal executive vice-president Frans Timmermans said, “(Al Jaber) is one of the few companies in the oil and gas industry that has been investing in decarbonization and renewable energy. For a long time.”

Al Jaber is also Chairman of Masdar, a clean energy company with global investments. In the interview, Al Jaber asked critics to give him a chance to prove he was “committed to change.”

he also got us COP28 representative, former US Secretary of State John Kerry. In an interview with The Associated Press, Kerry said he was “very confident” that important issues would be on the table and that the UAE would lead countries to acknowledge “their responsibilities.”

As director of EFE’s green sector, Arturo Larena has previously covered conferences like the COP. He believes that the involvement of the oil sector in COP decision-making could be positive. “You can’t make a change without the participation of all parties. The UAE is one of the countries that is really committed to trying to transition from the fossil fuel industry to other energy sources. They have the knowledge and the will to change things,” he said.

Environmental journalists also note that this is not the first venue to spark controversy over energy. Poland, which “has significant fossil fuel-related industries,” has hosted it three times, most recently in 2018. In 2012, COP18 was also held in Doha, the capital of Qatar, another oil-producing country. “The problem here is that the presidency is often in the hands of politicians, such as environment ministers, rather than company presidents,” La Reina said.

Should oil companies be banned?

Al Jaber himself has asked people to stop “attacking each other” and promised an “inclusive” COP that “leaves no one behind”. But Greenpeace and other environmental groups want to create an agreement that keeps the most polluting companies out of COP negotiations.

“Other sectors have done this, such as tobacco regulation. The tobacco industry is not involved in these negotiations, but doctors and political representatives are,” Zorrilla said. Some were even more explicit: Alice Harrison of the NGO Global Witness said, “You don’t invite arms dealers to lead peace talks. So why oil executives to lead climate talks?”

The group behind the letter also called on the UN to ensure that companies responsible for pollution do not fund climate action: “Greenwashing and buying out their responsibility for the crisis they have created must never be allowed.”

“If he manages to break away from ADNOC (the national oil company) and get closer to Masdar (the renewable energy company), it could be interesting if he focuses more on spearheading other countries,” said Elcano, a senior fellow at the Royal Institute for Climate Issues. Lara Lazaro. Lázaro went on to say that “business mentality” can be positive when it comes to moving from “commitment to action,” but it can also be negative when it comes to “loss, damage, and financing”—that is, when Money is spent mitigating the effects of climate change on the most affected countries.

Oil as part of the solution to climate change?

NGOs took note of the statement made by the COP president at the opening of the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition late last year, emphasizing his conflict of interest: “The world needs all possible solutions. Oil and gas, solar, wind and nuclear and hydrogen , and clean energy sources that have yet to be discovered, commercialized and implemented.”

The goal of the meeting is to ensure countries agree to end the era of all fossil fuels, not just coal.

Although after his appointment as COP chair, he started to sound greener: “The UAE intends to listen, engage and partner with all parties willing to play a constructive role in the transition to clean energy.”

As Lara Lázaro points out in her article for the Elcano Royal Institute, the goal of the meeting is to ensure that countries agree to end the era of all fossil fuels, not just coal.In previous COP27 EgyptA proposal by India, India and 80 other countries to “expand the call to reduce all fossil fuels”, including oil and gas, was not considered amid opposition from countries such as Saudi Arabia. Therefore, according to the researchers, the UAE and Al Jaber will play a key role, although perhaps “not so inclined”.

However, this is not solely the responsibility of Al Jaber. EFE reporter Larena noted that the COP had a “very important political and economic” component, with a growing number of lobbyists attending – something criticized by NGOs.

A survey by Global Witness and the Corporate Europe Observatory showed that at COP27 there were 636 delegates related to the fossil fuel industry – 25% more than at COP26. The report reveals the oil and gas industry’s desire to influence negotiations, especially from the UAE. The report also warns that more fossil fuel delegates to the summit combined than any one delegation from the 10 countries hardest hit by the climate crisis.

At this COP, “we will be more vigilant than ever,” said Pedro Zorrilla of Greenpeace. “We will continue to denounce the existence of fossil fuel interests in these meetings. Ultimately, this situation will be a springboard to continue denouncing it and demanding a deal to keep the fossil industry out of climate negotiations.”