Dec 05, 2023 15:00:00

Whistleblower reveals that the chair of the United Nations climate change conference aimed to reduce greenhouse gases while conducting 'lobbying activities to promote fossil fuel trade' in meetings with governments

Sultan Al Jaber, CEO of

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company and chair of the 28th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ( COP28 ), which is being held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), will attend the climate change summit. A whistleblower revealed that they were conducting 'lobbying activities to promote fossil fuel business' against participating governments. Although he was the chairman of a conference to curb climate change, he has been criticized for using his position to sell fossil fuels, which are considered to be one of the causes of climate change.

COP28 president secretly used climate summit role to push oil trade with foreign government officials – Center for Climate Reporting
https://climate-reporting.org/cop28-president-oil-climate/

Documents Show Plan for Leader of COP28 Climate Talks to Promote Fossil Fuels - The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/28/climate/uae-cop28-documents-al-jaber.html

Mr. Jaber is the CEO of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, and is also the chairman of COP28. Since taking over as chairman of COP28, Mr. Jaber has reportedly been asked to resign as CEO of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company.

Mr. Jaber used his position as COP28 chairman to hold numerous meetings with government officials, royal families, and business leaders from around the world, and to lobby for increased oil and gas exports from Abu Dhabi National Oil Company. The Center for Climate Reporting (CCR), an investigative reporting agency of an international non-profit organization (NPO), reported that they were carrying out activities.

CCR reports that it has obtained more than 150 pages of documents prepared by the COP28 team for talks held by Jaber between July and October 2023. The CCR is working with the BBC to verify the authenticity of material obtained from whistleblowers, and says: 'Our investigation shows that on at least one occasion the State followed up on commercial arguments raised in meetings with Mr Jaber. It has been confirmed that.'' A source other than the whistleblower also admitted that ``Abu Dhabi National Oil Company's business interests sometimes came up during meetings with other countries.''

However, it appears that not all countries were on board with Mr. Jaber on the topic of fossil fuel exports, with ``several countries discussing their commercial interests with Mr. Javel during meetings prepared ahead of COP28-related talks.'' 'he declined to discuss the matter,' CCR reported.

Michael Jacobs, a professor at the University of Sheffield, called Mr Gerber's actions 'stunningly hypocritical'. It continued: “The UAE is currently the custodian of a United Nations process aimed at reducing global greenhouse gas emissions. We are trying to do ancillary transactions that will lead to an increase in gas emissions.”

In response to inquiries from CCR, COP28 did not deny that it was using the bilateral climate summit for business negotiations. A COP28 spokesperson said, ``Dr. Sultan (Jaber) holds many other positions in addition to his role as COP28 president. This is widely known. The contents of private meetings are not disclosed. and I cannot comment on that.'

Regarding Mohamed Al Kaabi, director of government relations for COP28, the whistleblower said, ``Jaber, despite Kaabi's continued role at Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, 'We have added him to key staff,' he said. When contacted by CCR, a COP28 spokesperson confirmed that Mr. Karbi was ``involved in Mr. Jaber's entire portfolio.'' In addition, emails and internal documents obtained by CCR confirm that not only Mr. Kaabi but also multiple COP28 staff members are in regular contact with employees of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company.

Manuel Pulgar Vidal, who chaired

COP20 in Lima, Peru in 2014, said, ``As COP president, you should not represent national or commercial interests.Leading the world is your responsibility.'' It’s supposed to be a job,” he criticized Mr. Jarbell.

CCR has published some of the material obtained from the whistleblower, which you can check out below.

In addition, in an interview he gave as chairman of COP28, Mr. Jaber responded to the claim that ``we need to phase out fossil fuels in order to limit global warming to within 1.5 degrees,'' saying, `` There is no scientific basis for this. '' 'I won't do that,' has caused a stir .