The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is said to have planned to use pre-COP28 summit meetings to pitch oil and gas deals to foreign governments, according to leaked documents obtained by the Centre for Climate Reporting (CCR).
More than 150 pages of prepared briefings for meetings held by Sultan Ahmed al Jaber, COP28 president, earlier this year, reportedly show conversations about opportunities to increase exports, the CCR claimed.
Mr al Jaber, who is also the CEO of Abu Dhabi’s national oil company, Adnoc, is said to have planned to discuss commercial interests with almost 30 countries ahead of the summit, according to the CCR.
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Talks with countries such as Brazil, China, and Egypt were also reportedly planned as a means of discussing how deals on fossil fuel trade could be made.
Many of the officials who reportedly held discussions with Mr al Jaber will also be attending the COP28 summit, which begins in Dubai on 30 November.
Under the UNFCCC’s code of conduct, appointed officers should avoid using their role as a means to seek “private gain or obtain private pecuniary advantages or other remuneration”.
In one instance, briefing notes of a meeting between Mr al Jaber and Zhao Yingmin, China’s minister of ecology and environment, reportedly showed that Adnoc “remains a committed energy partner” to the country with the possibility of partnering on more international gas projects.
In another, notes prepared by the COP28 team ahead of a meeting with Egypt’s minister of foreign affairs, claimed to say that Adnoc “stands ready to support the supply of petrochemicals” to the country, the CCR said.
Meanwhile, a briefing ahead of a meeting with John Kerry, the US special presidential envoy for climate, claimed to hope it could “garner support” for Masdar – the UAE state-owned renewable energy company, chaired by Mr al Jaber.
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Sky News were unable to verify the leaked documents used in the CCR’s investigation with the BBC.
A COP28 spokesperson said that the documents referred to were “inaccurate,” “unverified” and “not used by COP28 meetings”.
The appointment of Mr al Jaber as the head of the UN’s climate conference back in January, has been met with fierce criticism.
Climate activist Greta Thunberg called the move “ridiculous” while a group of 100 US and EU politicians sought to oust him – to no avail.
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Teresa Anderson, global lead on climate justice at the ActionAid charity, said at the time: “This appointment goes beyond putting the fox in charge of the hen house.
“The UN Climate Summit is supposed to be a space where the world holds polluters to account, but increasingly it’s being hijacked by those with opposing interests.”
In defence of his appointment to the role, a spokesperson for the UAE Office of the Special Envoy for Climate Change told Sky News’ US partner network NBC News his experience “uniquely positions him to be able to convene both the public and private sector to bring about pragmatic solutions to achieve the goals and aspirations of the Paris Climate Agreement”.
