Blog Post, In Re COP28

That The United Arab Emirates (الإمارات العربية المتحدة) hosted the conference of the parties under the UNFCCC was already a recipe for a contentious interface of parties. That His Excellency Dr. Sultan Ahmed al Jaber [BSc in Chemical Engineering from the University of Southern California, a PhD in business and economics from Coventry University, and an MBA from the California State University at Los Angeles], COP28 President, UAE Special Envoy for Climate Change, minister of industry and advanced technology of the United Arab Emirates, head of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, and chairman of Masdar < https://drsultanaljaber.com/ >, vigorously struck back at criticisms of his conglomerates economic model came as no surprise to me. The thing which I wonder about is how it was considered advantageous to base an environmental conference in the heart of petroleum production and refining  and expect a cake walk of any sort?

His words struck a nerve with climate hawks. Critics and scientists called al Jaber’s pronouncement “farcical” and “alarming.” And John Kerry, the U.S. climate envoy, dismissed his take as out of touch with the latest scientific research: “Every decision we make should be geared to say, ‘Does this advance the 1.5 degrees or is it going to be more destructive and take us in the wrong direction?’” he told CNBC.

On Monday, al Jaber tried to tamp down the uproar. At a hastily organized press conference, he said his comments had been taken out of context, and acknowledged that “the phase-down and the phaseout of fossil fuels is inevitable.” He added, “I respect the science in everything I do.”

I wonder if he drives a Tesla? He “respects the science in everything he does” and he must present a relatively large carbon footprint – as the founder and CEO of an oil extraction and procession firm. I would suppose he takes carbon reduction “very ‘very seriously’”? I suppose…

Grenee 12.13.2023 0549Hrs CST

The UAE's response to climate change

https://u.ae/en/information-and-services/environment-and-energy/climate-change/theuaesresponsetoclimatechange

 

Response to BBC Report: “COP28: UAE planned to use climate talks to make oil deals”

https://www.greenpeace.org/international/press-release/63863/response-to-bbc-report-cop28-uae-planned-to-use-climate-talks-to-make-oil-deals/