January 12, 2023
WASHINGTON, DC — Today, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced its appointment of Sultan Al Jaber as President-Designate of the upcoming UN climate summit COP28, which is scheduled to take place from November 30-December 12 in Dubai.
Sultan Al Jaber is chief of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), the world’s twelfth-largest oil company by production, head of Masdar (also referred to as the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company), and Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology of the UAE.
The Center for International Environmental Law issued the following reaction:
“The appointment of Sultan Al Jaber as President-Designate of this year’s upcoming UN climate conference is an outrageous illustration of the gross conflicts of interest currently dominating international climate policy.
“His appointment underscores the concern that civil society has raised repeatedly about corporate capture. As the unprecedented number of fossil fuel lobbyists at COP27 made clear, UN climate conferences are increasingly serving the interests of big corporations, and particularly oil and gas companies. In doing so, they offer a platform for greenwashing initiatives and dangerous false solutions rather than advancing the phaseout of fossil fuels urgently required to avoid a catastrophic escalation of the climate crisis.
“This appointment is even more alarming as the UAE government aggressively curtails the rights and freedoms of civil society, preventing the expression of dissent.
“For the credibility and integrity of the climate negotiations, it’s imperative that Sultan Al Jaber resign from his roles as CEO of ADNOC and Masdar or decline the COP presidency, and that the UN adopt policies that would prevent further conflicts of interests in relation to the climate negotiations.”
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Media contact: Cate Bonacini | press@ciel.org