US, EU Representatives Call To Remove UAE Oil Company CEO as UN Climate Conference Chair
About 100 representatives from the European Parliament and the US Congress on Tuesday called for the chair of the next United Nations climate change conference to be removed from his post due to his connections to the fossil fuel industry. The UAE had appointed Sultan Al Jaber, head of the state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, to chair the conference, known as COP28, set to be held in Dubai from November 30 to December 12.
The open letter urged officials from the US, EU, and UN to “engage in diplomatic efforts to secure the withdrawal of the president-designate of COP28” and to “take immediate steps to limit the influence of polluting industries” on the conference. In the letter, the lawmakers said that the fossil fuel industry was focused on a strategy incompatible with the Paris Agreement, the international climate change treaty signed at the UN’s 2015 climate conference.
Al Jaber’s office responded by defending his legitimacy as chair.
“We believe that Dr. Sultan’s experience as an engineer, working across the energy spectrum, coupled with his experience as a senior global industry leader, are assets that will help drive the UAE’s transformative approach to COP28,” his office said in a statement.
