Cop28 president denies on eve of summit he abused his position to sign oil deals

Photo and Excerpt from www.theguardian.com

Sultan Al Jaber, the president of the UN Cop28 climate summit, has hit back strongly at reports he abused his position to try to sign oil deals with other governments, as the United Arab Emirates prepares to host the biggest Cop meeting yet.

Al Jaber’s role is to act as an “honest broker” for the 190-plus governments gathering at the global climate talks, charged with leading them to a successful conclusion. He is also the chief executive of UAE’s national oil company, Adnoc, and campaigners say the two roles are in conflict.

This week the Centre for Climate Reporting, an investigative journalism group, and the BBC released documents that appeared to show that meetings the Cop28 presidency had with other governments included “talking points” about the potential sale of oil and gas by Adnoc.

Speaking to a small group of journalists in Dubai on the eve of the conference on Wednesday, Al Jaber said: “These allegations are false. Not true, incorrect, not accurate. It’s an attempt to undermine the work of the Cop28 presidency … Never ever did I see these talking points or ever used such talking points in my discussions.”