<
https://theintercept.com/2023/10/25/cop28-uae-oil-climate-sultan-al-jaber/>
"John Kerry looked on from the front row as Sultan Al Jaber of the United Arab
Emirates took to the stage in Abu Dhabi in January. Next to Kerry on the plush
white chairs reserved for VIPs were senior figures from the Emirati, British,
and U.S. governments. It was Al Jaber’s first public appearance since being
appointed president of this year’s Conference of the Parties, COP28, the United
Nations annual climate summit.
Al Jaber wore a sage green kandura, round glasses, and a white headdress. He
spoke slowly and deliberately, laying out his vision for COP28, which will be
held in the UAE in December. But his assured manner belied the barrage of
criticism he was facing in the press.
Al Jaber is not just this year’s COP president. He also heads the Abu Dhabi
National Oil Company, known as Adnoc. It is the first time any CEO, let alone
one from the fossil fuel industry, has been COP president. The announcement was
met with fury from climate activists. Kerry, meanwhile, the U.S. special
presidential envoy for climate, appeared nonplussed.
During his speech at the Global Energy Forum — an event the Atlantic Council,
an American think tank, has hosted in the UAE for the past six years — Al Jaber
said that when the time comes, the oil-rich nation will celebrate “the last
barrel of oil.” He spoke about his time leading the UAE’s state-owned renewable
energy company Masdar and called for “practical solutions” to the climate
crisis at COP28.
What he didn’t say was that as CEO of Adnoc, he is currently overseeing a major
expansion of the company’s oil and gas output. And the oil company’s staff has
played a critical role in shaping the summit. At least a dozen Adnoc employees
have been appointed to roles on the hosting team, including two staffers
designated as negotiators for the UAE. The fossil fuel industry has been deeply
involved in the annual COPs since they began in the 1990s, sending hundreds of
lobbyists each year, as
The Intercept previously reported. But this year, the
industry is closer than ever to one of the most important international climate
forums."
Via Tess.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
