The general director of the national oil company of the United Arab Emirates was appointed on Thursday as the president of the 28th session of the UN Climate Conference (COP28), which will be held in 2023 in this country in the Persian Gulf region, AFP and Agerpres report. report.

Sultan Ahmed Al-Jaber, Minister of Industry of the United Arab Emirates and CEO of oil giant ADNOC (Abu Dhabi National Oil Company), who is also the Special Envoy on Climate Change, will become the first CEO in the world to lead the It is reported in a statement published on Thursday by the WAM news agency.

“We will promote a pragmatic, realistic and solution-oriented approach,” Sultan Ahmed al-Jaber was quoted as saying in the same press release. “Climate action is a huge economic opportunity for investment in sustainable development. The main thing is funding,” he added.

The Saudi official has headed ADNOC since 2016, as well as Masdar, a Saudi company promoting renewable energy. However, his dual activities have drawn criticism from environmental activists.

“The appointment of Sultan Ahmed al-Jaber as president of COP28, given that he is the CEO of the national oil company in Abu Dhabi, is a scandalous conflict of interest,” reacted Harjit Singh of the Climate Action Network. International.

“The constant threat of fossil fuel lobbyists at the UN climate talks has always undermined the outcome of climate conferences, but this situation is reaching a new level of danger that is unprecedented,” he added.

Criticism and frustration with COP conferences

At COP27 in November in Egypt, the number of oil and gas industry lobbyists increased by more than 25% compared to COP26 in Glasgow, according to environmental associations.

The largest contingent came from the United Arab Emirates, followed by Russia. The COP26 conference passed a resolution on the compensation that poor countries receive for the destruction caused by climate change.

But COP27 failed to advance the agenda for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, which would have preserved the global goal of limiting the warming of our planet.

In addition, the adopted text barely mentioned the issue of reducing the use of fossil energy.

The United Arab Emirates wants a gradual reduction in carbon emissions

The Gulf state, one of the world’s top oil exporters, is in favor of phasing out hydrocarbons and has pledged to be carbon neutral by 2050.

This desert country of 10 million people, 90% of whom are foreigners, has enjoyed rapid oil-driven economic growth since the 1970s, but its economy has gradually diversified in recent years.

“Limiting climate warming to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius will require significant emissions reductions, a pragmatic, practical and realistic approach to the energy transition and increased aid to developing economies,” said a statement released on Thursday, which refers to the goal. during previous sessions of the COP. Climate change is a particularly important topic for countries in the Persian Gulf region, where summer temperatures sometimes reach 50 degrees Celsius.

According to a study published in 2021, some regions may become uninhabitable by the end of this century. COP28 will be held in Dubai from November 30 to December 12.