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The president of this year's COP28 climate talks, who heads a major oil company, on Saturday urged a focus on lower emissions to reduce global warming, warning that energy needs were set to accelerate.
Sultan Al Jaber, the United Arab Emirates' special envoy for climate change and CEO of oil giant ADNOC, said less-polluting fossil fuels would remain part of the energy mix, along with renewables and other solutions.
"As long as the world still uses hydrocarbons, we must ensure they are the least carbon intensive possible," Al Jaber told the Global Energy Forum in Abu Dhabi, two days after his unveiling as COP president.
"We're working with the energy industry on accelerating decarbonisation, reducing methane and expanding hydrogen.
"Let's keep our focus on holding back emissions, not progress."
Al Jaber's nomination on Thursday prompted protests from climate activists concerned that a senior figure from the oil industry has little incentive to reduce the use of hydrocarbons.
The Gulf monarchy argues that oil remains indispensable to the global economy and is pushing the merits of carbon capture -- removing carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, as fuel is burned or from the air.
Al Jaber said the UAE would organise this year's United Nations climate summit with "humility, a clear sense of responsibility and a great sense of urgency".
He said the world's population, currently eight billion, was on course to reach 9.7 billion by 2050 and would need "50 percent more energy than what is available today".
- 'Living in a dream' -
"We are way off track. The world is playing catch up when it comes to the key Paris goal of holding global temperatures down to 1.5 degrees (Celsius)," he said.
"And the harsh reality is that in order to achieve this goal, global emissions must fall 43 percent by 2030."
COP27, held in Egypt in November, concluded with the adoption of a hotly contested text on aid to poor countries affected by climate change, but failed to set new ambitions for lowering greenhouse gas emissions.
The UAE, a leading crude producer and one of the world's biggest polluters per capita, will host the next edition in Dubai in November and December. It had the largest contingent of oil and gas lobbyists at last year's talks.
At the Global Energy Forum, whose audience included US climate envoy John Kerry, Qatar's Energy Minister Saad Sherida al-Kaabi accused critics of "demonising" oil and gas companies.
"If I can just be a little bit blunt... the community that was driving the green (agenda) was living in a dream that they realise they can't achieve," said Kaabi, who is also the chief executive of state gas firm QatarEnergy.
"It's very important that we achieve these goals but we need to be realistic about what we can achieve," he added. "We can't be driven by just the agendas of people wanting to be elected."
Products as varied as coolers and clothing rely on hydrocarbons, Kaabi said. "I know we need to do a lot of work there but let's not forget the reality of what we need."
Oil boss as climate talks host: what's behind UAE's choice?
Dubai (AFP) Jan 12, 2023 -
The United Arab Emirates has picked the head of its national oil company as president of this year's COP28 climate talks, prompting criticism from environmental activists.
Here we examine the UAE's reasons for choosing Sultan Al Jaber and what message it is sending ahead of the UN climate talks later this year.
- Who is Sultan Al Jaber? -
Al Jaber is the chief executive of the UAE's Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), which is one of the world's biggest oil firms.
The 49-year-old, who was educated in the United States and Britain, is also the UAE's Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology.
He was named the UAE's special climate envoy in 2020, a post he also previously held from 2010-2016.
He is also the founder of Masdar -- a multibillion-dollar, state-backed company that invests in renewable energy, backing projects in more than 40 countries since it was founded in 2006, according to UAE state media.
Al Jaber, who has taken part in more than 10 COP meetings, headed the UAE's delegation to the last UN climate summit in Egypt. It was by far the biggest delegation to attend the talks, and one of the largest in COP history.
In 2009, he was appointed to the UN's Advisory Group on Energy and Climate Change by Ban Ki-Moon, the then secretary general.
"Sultan Al Jaber has been spearheading the UAE's climate action well before and during his tenure at ADNOC," said climate expert Karim Elgendy, Associate Fellow at Britain's Chatham House think tank.
- Why the controversy? -
Holding COP28 in a major oil-producing country has provoked concern from activists urging a shift away from oil, which produces the greenhouse gases that heat the planet.
Those worries were only stoked by the choice of a fossil fuel executive as the face of the talks.
Tasneem Essop, executive director of Climate Action Network International said it was a "conflict of interest" to choose a figure "heading an industry that is responsible for the crisis itself".
Jaber's nomination also heightened concerns that lobbyists looking to delay the phasing-out of fossil fuels will be given more sway.
Already, the COP26 in Scotland had 500 fossil fuel lobbyists in attendance -- a figure that only increased with COP27 in Egypt, with the UAE sending the highest number.
"COP28 needs to conclude with an uncompromised commitment to a just phase out all fossil fuels: coal, oil and gas," said Tracy Carty from Greenpeace International.
"There is no place for the fossil fuel industry in the global climate negotiations."
- What's the message? -
The UAE -- one of the world's biggest crude producers -- "sees no contradiction" in the selection of Al-Jaber, Elgendy said.
The Gulf nation has repeatedly maintained that oil and gas will be needed for decades to power the world economy, while generating revenues that could be invested in renewable energy sources.
"The choice of Dr Sultan is absolutely representative of the UAE's approach to climate action, which pledges to decarbonise its economy... but advocates for its moral right to export every molecule of fossil fuel," Elgendy said.
"It argues that the world will still need some fossil fuel supplies by 2050 and that these should come from the lowest cost and lowest carbon producers," namely Gulf Arab countries, Elgendy added.
The UAE is also a strong advocate for including oil executives in the climate conversation, arguing that their experience in the energy industry is helpful in tackling climate change.
"For Gulf countries, where oil wealth contributes significantly to the economy, a great deal of climate action will need to come from this exact sector," said Aisha Al-Sarihi, a research fellow at the National University of Singapore's Middle East Institute.
"Excluding the oil industry from the negotiating table might not serve the region," the Omani expert told AFP.
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