UAE appoints oil chief to lead COP28 climate summit

Cairo, Jan 12 (EFE).- The United Arab Emirates on Thursday appointed the head of Abu Dhabi’s national oil firm and industry minister as the leader of the next COP28 climate summit set to be held in Dubai in November.

Sultan al-Jaber has been the chief executive officer of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company since 2016 and is also the UAE’s minister for industry and advanced technology.

“This will be a critical year in a critical decade for climate action,” he said of his appointment, according to the official WAM news agency. “The UAE is approaching COP28 with a strong sense of responsibility and the highest possible level of ambition.”

He added: “In cooperation with the UNFCCC and the COP27 Presidency, we will champion an inclusive agenda that ramps up action on mitigation, encourages a just energy transition that leaves no one behind, ensures substantial, affordable climate finance is directed to the most vulnerable, accelerates funding for adaptation and builds out a robust funding facility to address loss and damage.”

The topic of loss and damage, whereby rich nations foot the bill for climate change consequences more acutely felt by developing countries, which have contributed far less to global warming, dominated the agenda at COP27, held in Egypt’s Sharm El Sheikh.

“We must especially focus on how climate action can address the needs of the Global South, as those most impacted by climate change trends,” al-Jaber said.

Al-Jaber was put forward by the UAE’s deputy prime minister Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan under the directive of the oil-rich nation’s president Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Also named in the UAE’s COP28 team were the country’s youth minister of state Shamma al Mazrui and the current president of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, Razan al Mubarak.

COP28 is due to get underway at Dubai’s Expo City on November 30. EFE

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