Did the president of COP28 on climate, Sultan Al-Jaber, abuse his role to conclude deals in fossil fuels? In any case, this is what the BBC said on Monday, recalling that the person concerned is also the boss of an oil company.
A spokesperson for COP28, which takes place from Thursday until December 12 in Dubai, responded that “the documents mentioned in the BBC article are inaccurate and were not used by COP28 during meetings.” “It is extremely disappointing that the BBC is using unverified documents,” he added.
The BBC relies for its investigation on documents collected by journalists from the Center for Climate Reporting (CCR). The documents, the authenticity of which this center claims to have verified, were obtained via a “whistleblower” who remained anonymous for fear of reprisals, specifies the CCR. This is a 150-page compilation of briefings prepared by the COP28 team for meetings with Sultan Al-Jaber between July and October 2023.
The revealed documents, the BBC claims, were prepared by the Emirates COP28 team for meetings with at least 27 foreign governments ahead of the summit. They include “talking points” such as one for China that Adnoc wants to “jointly evaluate international opportunities” in liquefied natural gas in Mozambique, Canada and Australia.
According to the BBC, the UAE team did not dispute the use of COP28 meetings for business discussions, and argued that “private meetings are private.” According to the CCR and the BBC, more than a dozen countries contacted by the two bodies did not respond, several contesting trade talks with Sultan Al-Jaber, despite the talking points appearing on briefings prepared before the meetings , and five others said no meeting took place.
“Totally unacceptable” according to Greenpeace
Kaisa Kosonen, policy coordinator at Greenpeace International, said the summit “should focus on moving forward on climate solutions in an impartial way, not on back-end markets that fuel the crisis.” “This is exactly the kind of conflict of interest we feared when the CEO of an oil company was appointed to this position,” she added.
The choice of the boss of the Emirati oil company Adnoc to chair COP28 had already been strongly criticized by environmental defenders. “If these accusations are true, it is totally unacceptable and a real scandal,” responded Greenpeace in a press release, three days before the opening of the UN climate conference.