Just before the climate conference in Dubai, COP28 was hit by a serious scandal. Your boss probably wanted to do business with fossil fuels on the side of consulting.
The president of the World Climate Change Conference (COP28), which begins on Thursday, Sultan Ahmed al-Jaber, has used his role to seek fossil fuel deals ahead of the summit, according to a BBC report. Adnoc, the state-run Emirati oil company he heads, is “ready” to support fossil fuel projects in their respective countries. The BBC writes that this is contained in secret documents about meetings held by Al-Jaber with representatives of Germany, China, Egypt and Colombia.
In its report, the BBC refers to documents from the Center for Climate Reporting (CCR) research association, which were leaked by an informant. There are 150 pages of documents used to prepare Al-Jaber’s meetings between July and October. Their authenticity was checked by CCR.
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The documents also include a meeting between al-Jaber and Chinese representatives. It notes that Emirati oil major Adnoc is “in turn” working with Beijing to “explore” liquefied natural gas utilization projects in Mozambique, Canada and Australia.
A spokesperson for the COP28 conference described the documents as “false” and said they were “not used by the COP28 leadership during its meetings”. “Extremely disappointing” the BBC’s reliance on “unverified documents”. The conference will be held from November 30 to December 12 in the emirate city of Dubai.
Al-Jaber’s role draws criticism
According to the BBC, the United Arab Emirates’ COP 28 delegates did not deny using discussions ahead of the climate conference for business matters. However, Emirati representatives noted the confidentiality of the meetings.
Al-Jaber’s dual role as COP28 president and ATNAC boss has drawn criticism for months. In January, hundreds of NGOs wrote an open letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, saying his appointment threatened the “legitimacy” of the conference in Dubai.
The future use of fossil fuels will play a major role at the World Climate Conference in Dubai. It should also be about financially coping with damages and losses caused by climate change, especially in affected developing countries.
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