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sultan al-jaber
Al Gore Says Fossil Fuel Industry Has 'Captured the COP Process'
The former U.S. vice president accused the United Arab Emirates of "abusing the public's trust" by naming the CEO of its national oil company as president of COP28.
Dec 04, 2023
Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore said Sunday that fossil fuel interests have effectively seized the reins of the United Nations climate summit process, preventing the kind of ambitious action that scientists say is necessary to prevent catastrophic warming and all of its cascading impacts.
"This industry is way more effective at capturing politicians than they are at capturing emissions," Gore told Reuters on the sidelines of the COP28 summit in Dubai. "And they have captured the COP process itself now and overreached, abusing the public's trust by naming the CEO of one of the largest and least responsible oil companies in the world as head of the COP. It's an abuse of the public's right to have confidence in the processes by which the decisions about humanity's future are made."
Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, COP28 president and chief executive of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC)—which is planning a massive expansion of oil and gas production in the coming years—has insisted that any deal reached at the critical climate summit must include fossil fuels.
A record number of fossil fuel lobbyists are believed to be in attendance at the latest round of U.N. climate talks, and little has been done to curb their influence.
Gore's interview with Reuters came after he delivered a presentation highlighting the UAE's rising greenhouse gas emissions. Citing data from Climate TRACE—an emissions tracking coalition that he co-founded—Gore said the UAE's planet-warming emissions rose 7.5% last year compared to 2021, while the rest of the world's rose 1.5%.
As AFP reported Sunday, Dubai's skyline was "obscured by a blanket of smog rated as 'unhealthy'" as COP28 delegates attended day four of the summit, which was deemed "health day."
A Human Rights Watch report published Monday notes that the UAE's "dangerously high air pollution levels" are "creating major health risks for its citizens and residents." Pointing to World Health Organization estimates, the group observed that more than 1,800 people die from air pollution every year in the UAE.
"Even as the United Arab Emirates government works to burnish its image as a global climate leader," the report notes, "the country's vast fossil fuel production and use spew toxic pollutants into the air and contribute to climate change."
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COP28 Head Claims There's 'No Science' Behind Fossil Fuel Phaseout
"This dismisses decades of work by IPCC scientists," said one expert. "Disgraceful."
Dec 04, 2023
Scientists and climate advocates responded with outrage Sunday to COP28 president Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber's claim that there is "no science" behind the push to rapidly phase out planet-warming fossil fuels, which Al Jaber's company is extracting on a large scale.
Al Jaber's comments, first reported by The Guardian on Sunday, came in response to questioning from Elders chair Mary Robinson during a virtual She Changes Climate discussion. Robinson told Al Jaber that "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."
The COP28 chief and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) CEO responded dismissively, saying he "accepted to come to this meeting to have a sober and mature conversation" and not to take part in "any discussion that is alarmist," according to audio published by The Guardian.
"There is no science out there, or no scenario out there, that says that the phaseout of fossil fuel is what's going to achieve 1.5°C," Al Jaber added. "Please help me, show me the roadmap for a phaseout of fossil fuel that will allow for sustainable socioeconomic development, unless you want to take the world back into caves."
That position runs directly counter to the outspoken stance of United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, who said Friday that "the 1.5°C limit is only possible if we ultimately stop burning all fossil fuels," arguing that "the science is clear."
Joelle Gergis, a climate scientist and lead author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) Working Group I contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report, called Al Jaber's remarks "disgraceful."
"This dismisses decades of work by IPCC scientists," Gergis wrote on social media.
"'Sending us back to caves' is the oldest of fossil fuel industry tropes: it's verging on climate denial."
The IPCC, which has synthesized the research of hundreds of climate scientists from around the world, has argued that any successful effort to prevent catastrophic planetary warming "will involve a substantial reduction in fossil fuel use."
"More than a century of burning fossil fuels as well as unequal and unsustainable energy and land use has led to global warming of 1.1°C above pre-industrial levels," the IPCC said following the release of its latest report earlier this year. "This has resulted in more frequent and more intense extreme weather events that have caused increasingly dangerous impacts on nature and people in every region of the world."
Other recent research has warned that rich nations must completely halt oil and gas production by 2034 to give the world a 50% chance of limiting warming to the 1.5°C target set by the Paris Agreement.
Bill Hare, chief executive of Climate Analytics, told The Guardian that Al Jaber's response to Robinson was "extraordinary, revealing, worrying, and belligerent."
"'Sending us back to caves' is the oldest of fossil fuel industry tropes: it's verging on climate denial," said Hare.
Al Jaber's comments, which he says have been misrepresented, were seen as further confirmation that he is ill-suited to lead a climate summit given his simultaneous role as the top executive at one of the world's largest fossil fuel firms. A Global Witness analysis released over the weekend found that ADNOC is on track to become the second-largest oil producer in the world by 2050, and Al Jaber has been accused of using his position as COP28 president to pursue oil and gas deals.
"ADNOC plans to produce more oil than any of the 'Big 5' supermajors—ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell, BP, TotalEnergies," Global Witness found. "In fact, its projected output will positively dwarf that of the European majors; ADNOC's 35.9 billion barrels is 49% higher alone than the projected 24.1 billion barrels production of Shell, BP, and Total combined."
On Monday, the COP28 presidency published a summary of the World Climate Action Summit, a gathering of more than 150 heads of state aimed at facilitating coordinated climate action.
The document states that world leaders "highlighted the opportunities to cut emissions in every sector and to accelerate the technology innovation to address scope 3 emissions, as well as the phase-down of fossil fuels in support of a transition consistent with limiting warming to 1.5°C."
Romain Ioualalen, global policy lead at Oil Change International, said in a statement that "strong support from the leaders' summit to address fossil fuels in the final COP28 agreement is a promising sign, but it is just good enough."
"Leaders must raise their ambition above a phase-down, and agree to immediately stop new fossil fuel expansion, and build a fast, full, fair, and funded phaseout of all fossil fuels while rapidly phasing in renewables," said Ioualalen. "Contrary to the COP28 president's assertions, the science is abundantly clear that warming will continue as long as we keep producing and burning fossil fuels."
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3 Reasons to Be Optimistic About COP28
COP28 skepticism is understandable, but we owe it to the planet and future generations to remain hopeful, ambitious, and bold.
Dec 02, 2023
As delegates gather in Dubai for the United Nations Climate Conference, COP28, the mood is not upbeat. Hopes, already muted, that this would be a transformational gathering have been further dampened by revelations that the hosts, the UAE, have been planning to use their position to strike new oil and gas deals; a clear breach of U.N. protocol. So far, so demoralizing.
Indeed, the fact that the world’s seventh largest oil producer put the head of their national oil company in charge of negotiations, and no one was able to stop them, raises understandable questions about the credibility of these multilateral negotiations and their fitness to respond to the oh-so-real dangers of climate change.
The biggest barrier to progress is a minority of powerful vested interests who have captured many of the political processes, and exert undue influence over global and national negotiations.
And yet, there are reasons to be hopeful about this conference. In fact, it is incumbent upon us to keep the faith, and keep raising our voices, on behalf of our colleagues, our friends and families, the planet, and future generations.
Reason 1: Food Is in the Spotlight
For the first time, food is a major focus at a U.N. climate conference. On December 1, 134 countries signed the COP28 Emirates Declaration on Food and Farming, committing to making food and agricultural reform central to their climate action plans. This is welcome and long-overdue.
But it is important that we work together to ensure that a focus on food does not come at the expense of attention and progress on fossil fuels. Indeed, the declaration doesnt’t set out how governments will tackle food emissions, and makes no reference to fossil fuels. This omission is concerning, particularly since a new report from the Global Alliance for the Future of Food estimates that food systems account for a staggering 15% of all fossil fuels burned globally each year. That’s equivalent to the emissions of all E.U. countries and Russia combined.
There has been progress in Dubai, but still more work to be done. We must use our time at COP28 to drive acknowledgment of the urgent need to decouple food production from fossil fuel use. The message could not be clearer: To avoid catastrophic climate breakdown, countries must commit to breaking the link between fossil fuels and food.
Reason 2: We Are Not Alone
I am privileged to be travelling to COP28 with a group of more than 40 frontline food and farming experts from Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and the Americas. These farmers, non-governmental organization representatives, land and Indigenous rights activists, and academics have the local knowledge and expertise needed to inform progressive policy.
Food growers, producers, and advocates already know what needs to be done to make food systems more sustainable. They are living the daily reality of climate change and other economic stresses. They are innovating to prepare for a more challenging future, while producing and consuming food in a way that protects nature and is better for their health. Now leaders have to listen to them.
The biggest barrier to progress is a minority of powerful vested interests who have captured many of the political processes, and exert undue influence over global and national negotiations. Sultan Al Jaber’s role as President of COP28, while simultaneously heading up UAE’s oil company ADNOC, is just the most visible and egregious of these relationships.
Oil and gas companies, petrochemical manufacturers, and industrial food producers all benefit from the status quo. At COP28, we must come together to counter their undemocratic, outsized influence and raise our voices to speak of a better future for all. We are the many and our voices will be heard.
Reason 3: This Is a Moment of Opportunity
Multilateralism does matter. In spite of the myriad challenges it is facing, COP is still the moment when every single country has a voice, large or small, and there is focused attention on the shared crisis. Media attention skyrockets, and past promises are scrutinized for the action that followed.
It is increasingly impossible for anyone to deny or ignore the reality of climate change. 2023 saw records set and broken: the hottest July, August, September, and October on record. Wildfires, droughts, melting ice, floods—the worst predictions coming true faster than we expected, in technicolor.
COP needs to end with an agreement to phase out fossil fuels and transform food systems.
This is as true in the UAE’s backyard as it is anywhere. This summer, devastating wildfires swept across North Africa and record temperatures were recorded around the Persian Gulf. In less than a decade, temperature rises in the Middle East and North Africa could surpass 2°C, exacerbating drought and water insecurity in what is already the world’s most water stressed region.
For too long, successive COPs have failed to enact the bold change we desperately need. That’s why it is even more important for COP28 to exceed expectations, restore trust, and deliver an outcome that is ambitious, comprehensive and, backed by genuine political will.
The long-awaited loss and damage fund agreement on day 1 of the Conference as well as the Emirates Food Declaration are a promising start. For the remainder of COP28, we need to hear messaging that speaks of transformation rather than incremental change: and see action to complement it. COP needs to end with an agreement to phase out fossil fuels and transform food systems. This will not only protect our environment; it will reduce hunger, create jobs, restore nature, improve health, and safeguard our collective future.
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