If it sounds bizarre, it’s because it is. Sultan Al Jaber, the CEO of state oil giant Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), one of the world’s 12 largest oil companies, is leading this year’s UN climate change conference in the United Arab Emirates. He has first leveraged the event for fossil fuel deals and now he has denied climate science.
The Conference of the Parties, or COP, is the annual climate change conference of the UN. This summit brought us the Paris Agreement, which is supposed to get countries to limit greenhouse gas emissions. Now on its 28th edition, the summit, which goes until December 12th, is being hosted by the United Arab Emirates, a major fossil fuel producer.
The country that hosts the summit can pick the person to preside over it. While this role is usually given to an environmental authority, such as a government minister, this year was an exception. Al Jaber was questioned from day one by environmental campaigners, worried that his selection could lead to a weak result at COP, which may yet be the case.
Last week, leaked documents obtained by the BBC showed Al Jaber planned to discuss fossil fuel deals with countries during COP28. Now, a report by The Guardian showed the COP president claimed in an event in November that there’s “no science” showing that a phase-out of fossil fuels is needed to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
During the event, Al Jaber was asked if he would lead on phasing out fossil fuels and said that “there’s no science out there, or no scenario out there, that says the phase-out of fossil fuel is what’s going to achieve 1.5.” He said wouldn’t sign up “to any discussion that is alarmist,” claiming that if the world phased out fossil fuels it would be like living in caves.
Fossil fuels, coal, oil and gas, are the main culprits behind the climate crisis, accounting for about 75% of greenhouse gas emissions. This year was the hottest on record, with extreme weather events around the world. Fossil fuel production in 2030 is expected to more than double what’s needed to limit global warming to under 1.5 degrees Celsius.
At COP28, Al Jaber replied to the Guardian article by saying everything he’s done as the conference’s president has been “centered around the science.” He said that the phase-down and the phase-out of fossil fuel is “inevitable” but that it has to be “orderly, just and responsible,” claiming that people are trying to undermine his message.
Fossil fuels and COP28
Since the start of the summit last week, fossil fuels have ranked on top of the agenda. The first draft text of the summit’s conclusions mentions both phase-out and phase-down of fossil fuels — contested wording, with fossil fuel producing countries backing the less ambitious second option. However, the text is likely to change as negotiations progress.
A group of 116 countries at COP28 also signed a non-binding pledge to triple renewable energy capacity and double the global average annual rate of energy efficiency by 2030. However, India and China, two top coal consumers, didn’t sign it. India plans to add 17 gigawatts of coal-based power generation over the next 16 months.
Also at COP, Brazil, which will host the climate summit in two years, agreed to join the OPEC+, a group formed by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), plus its oil-producing allies. The Brazilian President Lula da Silva said that by joining he could sway oil producers to use their profits to support the energy transition.
On the other hand, Colombia, a fossil fuel exporter, said it would seek to create a new climate agreement that focuses on fossil fuels, banning any new explorations of oil, gas and coal. This has been supported by other 10 countries so far, but it could take a long time to gather wider support for other actions, and even longer to be formalized.
Climate negotiations will continue in Dubai until December 12th, when governments are supposed to agree on a road map of how to increase climate ambition to meet the targets of the Paris Agreement. However, if fossil fuels aren’t included in the text and fully addressed, climate action will continue to get sidetracked.
“This is the fossil fuel COP where our future will be decided. The success of this year’s climate talks depends on countries agreeing to immediately stop new fossil fuel expansion, and build a just and equitable phase-out of all fossil fuels,” Romain Loualalen, Global Policy lead at Oil Change International, said in a news release.
