Amnesty International on Sept. 13 joined with over 200 civil society organizations to call upon participating governments of the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) to address the human rights record and climate policies of the United Arab Emirates. The COP, the annual summit of governments from around the world to discuss climate policy, is to be held in the UAE in December—convened by Sultan al-Jaber, CEO of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC).
The open letter states: “We support the concerns expressed by climate justice movements that allowing COP28 to be held by the rulers of a repressive petrostate, and overseen by an oil executive, is reckless, represents a blatant conflict of interest, and threatens the legitimacy of the whole process… As COP28 delegates prepare to attend the talks in Dubai, it is crucial for the international community to use the opportunity to shine a spotlight on the UAE’s human rights record, and to stand in solidarity with communities on the frontlines working to stop climate change impacts and human rights violations in the UAE and across the world.” (Jurist)
See our last report on the UN climate process.
UAE planned to promote oil deals during climate talks: leak
The host of the UN COP 28 summit, the United Arab Emirates, planned to use climate meetings with other countries to promote deals for its national oil and gas companies, according to leaked documents released by the Center for Cimate Reporting.
COP 28, opening this week, is to be run by Sultan al-Jaber, who is the chief executive of the national oil company ADNOC as well as the UAE’s climate envoy. This dual role has been criticized as a conflict of interest.
ADNOC has the largest climate-busting expansion plans of any company in the world, and state-run hydrocarbon fields in the UAE are flaring gas almost daily despite the company having committed 20 years ago to a policy of zero routine flaring. (The Guardian)
COP28 prez: ‘no science’ behind demand for fossil fuel phase-out
The president of COP28, Sultan Al Jaber, has claimed there is “no science” indicating that a phase-out of fossil fuels is needed to restrict global warming to 1.5 C, The Guardianreports. Al Jaber made the comments in ill-tempered responses to questions from Mary Robinson, the chair of the Elders group and a former UN special envoy for climate change, during a live online event Nov. 21.
Robinson said: “We’re in an absolute crisis that is hurting women and children more than anyone … and it’s because we have not yet committed to phasing out fossil fuel. That is the one decision that COP28 can take and in many ways, because you’re head of Adnoc, you could actually take it with more credibility.”
Al Jaber responded: “I accepted to come to this meeting to have a sober and mature conversation. I’m not in any way signing up to any discussion that is alarmist. There is no science out there, or no scenario out there, that says that the phase-out of fossil fuel is what’s going to achieve 1.5C.”