Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber -- the 49-year-old CEO of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Co., and renewable energy leader who previously served as the country's climate envoy -- was handpicked by his country's head of state to serve as president of the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28), which kicks off in late November. Photo courtesy Emirates News Agency WAM
Jan. 12 (UPI) -- The top executive at the world's 12th-largest oil company in the United Arab Emirates has been chosen to lead negotiations at a critical global climate summit in Dubai later this year -- prompting calls for him to either quit his job or turn down the position.
Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber -- the 49-year-old CEO of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Co., and renewable energy leader who previously served as the country's climate envoy -- was handpicked by his country's head of state to serve as president of the 28th Conference of the Parties (or COP28), which kicks off in late November.
The highly anticipated negotiations, hosted annually under the auspices of the United Nations, will take place amid a recent push to expand environmental protections worldwide.
Perhaps the most anticipated aspect of this year's talks will come in the form of a progress report on the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement -- an international accord that set tangible goals for every nation to cut emissions and lower global warming levels over the next decade.
Since then, many of the world's biggest polluters -- including the United States, China and Saudi Arabia -- have failed to take meaningful climate actions as no governing body has any real power to enforce the priorities.
As president of the upcoming summit, the technologically savvy Al Jaber -- who is also one of the closest allies of Emirati President Sheikh Mohammad bin Zayed Al Nahyan -- is in a unique position to pressure international holdouts as part of a "global stocktake" on climate, however, there were immediate questions of whether he could be effective in the role due to his cozy relationship with major oil producers.
Voices from previous climate talks said Al Jaber's leadership would be severely hampered by competing interests: one side that wants to move completely away from fossil fuels, and another side that wants to keep cashing in despite grave environmental consequences.
Tasneem Essop, the executive director of Climate Action Network International, was one of the leading voices who called for Al Jaber to "step down from his role as the CEO of Adnoc. He cannot preside over a process that is tasked to address the climate crisis with such a conflict of interest, heading an industry that is responsible for the crisis itself."
Essop and others recalled last year's COP27 summit in Egypt, which ended with very little progress on curbing fossil fuels after an untold number of oil and gas lobbyists mingled with delegates at the conference.
"If he does not step down as CEO, it will be tantamount to a full-scale capture of the UN climate talks by a petro-state national oil company and its associated fossil fuel lobbyists," she added.
Al Jaber's appointment also comes amid a flurry of recent activity meant to call more attention to climate concerns and increase mitigation efforts around the world.
The World Economic Forum released a report ahead of its annual meeting next week in Davos, Switzerland, describing the climate crisis as the most pressing issue to ever confront humanity.
Last month, nearly 200 countries reached a landmark agreement at the COP15 biodiversity summit in an effort to protect nature, endangered species and other critical resources for the next decade.
The newly approved Global Biodiversity Framework sets a path for each country, by 2030, to designate 30% of land that would remain undeveloped in an effort to support nature and the environment.
If fully implemented, the plan would hold major implications for farming, business supply chains and Indigenous populations around the world as countries step up efforts to safeguard the environment.
