Sultan Ahmed al-Jaber, in Houston, in early March. MARK FELIX / AFP
Sultan Ahmed al-Jaber notably “emphasized […] the need to reform multilateral financial institutions to unlock capital for clean technologies”.
The controversial president of the future COP28, scheduled for the end of the year in the United Arab Emirates, continued a visit to Paris on Friday. Intended to ensure its ambitions in climate matters, it was welcomed with “skepticismby NGOs.
Emirati Minister of Industry and boss of the national oil giant ADNOC, Ahmed al-Jaber was appointed mid-January as president of the next major UN climate conference, arousing the astonishment of environmental activists. As part of a tour that recently took him to the United States, he met President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Thursday and was received by the International Energy Agency (IEA). This Friday, Ahmed al-Jaber also met at the Constitutional Council with “qualified personalities in the field of climatein the presence of Laurent Fabius, President of the COP21 which was held in Paris in 2015, but in the absence of the press.
During his meetings, the representative “highlighted […] the need to reform multilateral financial institutions to unlock capital for clean technology, transformation efforts“, in particular underlined the Cop28 in a press release. In addition, facing the French head of state, Ahmed al-Jaber underlined “his desire to work with President Macron», in particular during the future summit for a «global financial pact“, expected in June 2023. “We need to clearly define how the political momentum generated in June can lead to concrete actions at COP28“, he commented.
Compromised credibility
This visit was criticized by associations. “His presidency arouses much skepticism about his real intentions to accelerate the fight against climate change“, worried in a press release the Climate Action Network (RAC), which brings together around twenty French NGOs. “The conflict of interest embodied by the presidency compromises the credibility of the United Arab Emirates on the international scene and risks weighing on the outcome of the negotiations. It is simply a takeover of fossil fuel interests in international climate negotiations“, he denounced.
Ahmed al-Jaber, who during his career has been involved in the futuristic green city project Masdar, underlined during his visit to the IEA headquarters, “the vital role the energy sector must play in decarbonizing and helping other industrial sectors do so“. “All sources are needed to meet growing energy demand“, says the presidency of COP28 in a press release.
After India, the United States and Western Europe, Ahmed al-Jaber intends to pursue what he describes as “international listening tourin developing countries. COP28 will see the publication of the first global report (“global stocktake“) of the progress made by each State to reach the objective of the Paris agreement of 2015, aiming to limit warming to well below 2°C, and preferably to 1.5°C. Some 70,000 people are expected at this international climate conference in Dubai scheduled for November 30 to December 12.