These elected representatives of the US Congress and the European Parliament called for the resignation of Sultan al-Jaber, head of oil giant ADNOC, from the presidency of the COP28 in Dubai.
Hundreds of elected representatives of the US Congress and the European Parliament called on Tuesday to withdraw the nomination of an oil industry chief to chair the next COP28 in Dubai.
“We urge you to urge the United Arab Emirates to renounce the appointment of Sultan al-Jaber,” they write, expressing their “deep concern.”
The letter is addressed to US President Joe Biden, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Simon Stiell, Executive Secretary of UN Climate, is also an award winner.
The importance of lobbies is being questioned
The appointment of the Emirati industry minister and head of the oil giant ADNOC as chairman of the UN climate conference planned for the end of 2023 had already been heavily criticized by a hundred NGOs in January.
In their letter, the elected officials also called for “limiting the influence of polluting industries” on these climate meetings and deplored the importance of lobbying.
“We cannot allow special interests to create more obstacles in the race against climate change,” tweeted Sheldon Whitehouse, one of the most committed US senators on climate issues.
In Brussels, this letter was signed by 99 green, left and centre-left MEPs.
ADNOC’s “decarbonization” goal
Questioned by AFP in April, Sultan Al-Jaber defended himself by recalling that he was also the founder of Masdar, a national Emirati giant specializing in renewable energy, and assuring that his country had been “more than twenty years” working on the energy transition”.
The 40-year-old has taken on the role of CEO of ADNOC with the “mandate” to work for its “decarbonization”, a spokesman for COP28 reacted on Tuesday and emphasized that the Emirati minister had already taken part in eleven COPs.
According to this spokesman, his “experience as an engineer” and “industry leader” is an “enrichment” for COP28.