12th January 2023 -  The United Arab Emirates announced today that the head of state oil giant Abu Dhabi National Oil Company would lead this year's COP28 climate summit. Sultan al-Jaber will help shape the conference's agenda and intergovernmental negotiations to build consensus. This is on the back of climate negotiations that concluded in Sharm El-Sheikh late last year where many were already concerned that the talks catered too much to the fossil fuel industry.

Alex Rafalowicz, Executive Director of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative stated: “The nomination of Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, CEO of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Corporation, as the incoming President of the COP28 UN climate summit is an act of provocation. This time, oil, gas and coal interests will not only be present to influence the UN climate talks, but they will also be in the driver’s seat of the negotiations. Even before the COP starts this raises serious questions about the global commitment to shift off coal, oil, and gas. The level of conflict of interest seems to grow with each COP. This appointment raises the question of whether the UNFCCC is up to the challenge to address the climate emergency by tackling its root cause: oil, gas and coal production. Sultan Al Jaber must resign from the oil company if he wants to sit in the COP seat.

He later added: “With their backs against the wall, the fossil fuel industry is scrambling, sending more lobbyists to the climate summit each year and now planting themselves to dictate these negotiations. But we cannot meet the goals of the Paris Agreement without international cooperation to explicitly tackle all fossil fuels head on. A glaring gap exists, one that can be filled by a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, which is already being called for by nation states, parliamentarians, Nobel Laureates and sub-national governments.

Tzeporah Berman, Chair for the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative and Stand.earth International Programs Director, said: “The nomination of Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber is a clear example of the fox watching the hen house. It would be a devastating blow to the climate negotiations at a critical moment in history. We are now living in a world on fire in large part because of the production and use of oil, gas and coal. Our job is to manage the phase out of fossil fuels in a way that is equitable and fair and ensures that new infrastructure for electrification through renewables is put in place right away. The oil and gas companies are not going to design their own demise. Sultan Al Jaber must resign from the oil company. If he wants a COP seat and the COP Presidency, due process must acknowledge the need to stop expansion and manage a phase out of fossil fuels.” 

In an interview with BBC News, Harjeet Singh, Strategic Advisor to the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative, said: “We cannot have the fossil fuel industry defining how the transition away from fossil fuels takes place. We need governments and vulnerable countries leading that conversation and that's why we need a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty to develop that framework and complement the Paris Agreement. The industry taking a lead on this is a clear conflict of interest"