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350.org Responds to Appointment of Sultan al-Jaber as President of COP28 Climate Conference
NEW YORK
Zeina Khalil Hajj; Head of Global Campaigning & Organising 350.org
“The climate crisis demands urgent and real action, the appointment of Sultan al-Jaber, head of state oil giant Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) as President of UNFCCC COP28 is the equivalent of appointing the CEO of a cigarette company to oversee a conference on cancer cures. It risks jeopardising the entire UN climate progress. We are extremely concerned that it will open the floodgates for greenwashing and oil and gas deals to keep exploiting fossil fuels. COP 28 cannot turn into an expo for the fossil fuel industry, this flies in the face of all the robust scientific evidence and data given by industry players like the International Energy Agency that we must phase out fossil fuels for the chance of a liveable future.”
In November 2022, ADNOC announced an accelerated growth strategy to increase oil production from 3 million barrels of oil per day to 5 million by 2030.
350 is building a future that's just, prosperous, equitable and safe from the effects of the climate crisis. We're an international movement of ordinary people working to end the age of fossil fuels and build a world of community-led renewable energy for all.
LATEST NEWS
Billionaire Compares 'Tax the Rich' Calls to Hate Speech as Study Finds Barely Half of Americans Earn Living Wage
Vornado CEO Steven Roth was particularly upset by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani's proposed tax on second homes in the city that are valued at $5 million or more.
May 06, 2026
A real estate investment tycoon on Tuesday said that calls to raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans were akin to "racial slurs."
As reported by The New York Times, Vornado Realty Trust CEO Steven Roth took time during his company's latest earnings call to decry calls from politicians such as New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani to fund public programs by taxing the rich.
“I must say that I consider the phrase ‘tax the rich’... when spit out with anger and contempt by politicians both here and across the country, to be just as hateful as some disgusting racial slurs," said Roth.
Roth took aim at Mamdani for celebrating a proposed pied-à-terre tax on luxury properties worth more than $5 million whose owners have other primary homes, and was particularly upset that the mayor filmed a video announcing the tax outside a $238 million penthouse owned by Ken Griffin, the CEO of the hedge fund Citadel. He called the announcement “dangerous" and an “ugly, unnecessary video stunt.”
The Vornado CEO went on to say that America's wealthiest individuals deserve the nation's gratitude, not their scorn.
"The rich, whom the politicians are targeting... are the epitome of the American dream,” he said. “They are at the top of the great American economic pyramid for a reason. They should be praised and thanked."
Roth's remarks drew criticism from Douglas Farrar, former director of the Office of Public Affairs at the Federal Trade Commission under President Joe Biden.
"A billionaire real estate CEO compared being asked to pay taxes to a racial slur, then said the top 1% should be 'praised and thanked,'" Farrar wrote in a social media post. "There was a time when the wealthy had the good sense to be quiet about it. Now they demand gratitude on earnings calls."
Activist and healthcare advocate Melanie D'Arrigo noted that Roth build developments in the city after intentionally allowing properties to sit in a state of blight for years, which "gutted Black and brown neighborhoods in exchange for billions in tax breaks."
Roth's lamentations about the treatment of the wealthy in the US came as human resources and software services company Dayforce teamed with the Living Wage Institute to release a new study showing that the percentage of Americans earning a living wage has significantly declined over the last five years, from 55.8% in 2021 to 50.7% in 2025.
The report notes that "job growth has recently slowed, and millions of workers haven’t seen a meaningful improvement in their financial situation," even as "the costs of housing, food, childcare, and other essentials are elevated, energy prices have spiked, and affordability continues to be a major issue for a significant share of the workforce."
The data in the report all came from 2025, before President Donald Trump launched his illegal war with Iran that has sent gas prices soaring above $4.50 per gallon and is threatening to unleash a global food crisis.
US consumer sentiment as measured by the University of Michigan hit a record low last month, and the university found that the effects of the Iran war were the primary drivers of Americans' economic pessimism.
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Advocates Demand Reversal of Trump FDA's 'Appalling' Censorship of Vaccine Studies
"Suppressing scientific research exposes the absurdity of Kennedy’s frequently repeated claim that he would bring ‘gold standard’ science and ‘radical transparency’ to the nation’s public health agencies."
May 06, 2026
Public health campaigners are calling on the Trump administration to end its censorship of vaccine research immediately after a spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services confirmed on Tuesday that the agency recently blocked publication of several studies supporting the safety of commonly used inoculations against Covid-19 and shingles.
HHS spokesman Andrew Nixon said the two Covid-19 vaccine studies in question were "withdrawn because the authors"—which included Food and Drug Administration (FDA) scientists—"drew broad conclusions that were not supported by the underlying data." The abstract of one of the studies, which had been accepted for publication in the medical journal Vaccine, stated that "no new safety concerns were found following 2023–2024 Covid-19 vaccination among US health plan enrollees aged 6 months–64 years."
The blocked shingles studies underscored the safety and effectiveness of Shingrix, according to reporting by The New York Times and Washington Post.
Dr. Robert Steinbrook, the Health Research Group director at Public Citizen, noted in a Tuesday statement that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also recently blocked a Covid-19 vaccine study from being published in the agency's scientific journal.
“The censorship of FDA and CDC scientific studies because their findings undermine Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s anti-vaccine agenda is outrageous and appalling," said Steinbrook. "Suppressing scientific research exposes the absurdity of Kennedy’s frequently repeated claim that he would bring ‘gold standard’ science and ‘radical transparency’ to the nation’s public health agencies."
“FDA Commissioner Dr. Martin Makary and Dr. Erica Schwartz, the nominee for CDC Director, must publicly commit to reversing these decisions and allowing the vaccine studies to be promptly published," Steinbrook added. "Bona fide public health agencies do not censor bona fide vaccine research.”
Kayla Hancock, director of the advocacy group Protect Our Care’s Public Health Project, said the censorship of vaccine studies further demonstrates that "this administration does not care how many Americans suffer from preventable diseases, so long as the anti-science elements of their base keep supporting them."
"Contrary to claims of its demise, the Trump-RFK Jr. HHS anti-vax agenda is here to stay and they will keep seizing any opportunity to put politics over public health," said Hancock.
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'Spain Does Not Look the Other Way': Sánchez Calls on EU to Block Israel-US Sanctions on ICC
"Sanctioning those who defend international justice puts the entire human rights system at risk," said the Spanish prime minister.
May 06, 2026
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez asked the European Commission on Wednesday to block compliance with US sanctions against the International Criminal Court over its arrest warrants against Israeli leaders accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Last February, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order sanctioning the ICC, citing its warrants in November 2024 for the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister, Yoav Gallant.
The ICC said at the time that the sanctions were meant to "harm its independent and impartial judicial work," potentially restricting officials’ access to US-linked property, services, travel, banking, and financial transactions, as they investigate widespread human rights violations and accusations of genocide during the more than two-year military campaign, which has resulted in the deaths of at least 72,000 Palestinians according to official estimates.
In a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday, Sánchez called for the immediate activation of the European Union's Blocking Statute, which is designed to protect European citizens from the effects of foreign sanctions.
"Spain does not look the other way," Sánchez said in a post to social media. "Sanctioning those who defend international justice puts the entire human rights system at risk."
"The EU cannot remain idle in the face of this persecution," he continued. "That is why, today, we ask the commission to activate the Blocking Statute, to protect the independence of the International Criminal Court and the United Nations, and their actions to end the genocide in Gaza."
In addition to the ICC, Sánchez said that the commission should also shield Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur for the Palestinian territories, whom the Trump administration also sanctioned in July, claiming that her stark criticisms of Israel's actions in Gaza helped to "prompt" the ICC investigation.
Following the announcement, Albanese issued a message of thanks to Sánchez over social media.
"Gracias, Presidente Sánchez," she wrote. "For your words, for your principled stance, and for trying to steer Europe away from the abyss."
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