Obviously, Abu Dhabi is doing better the bigger it is. The CEO of the UAE’s national oil company, who was appointed president of COP28 on Thursday, responded to the criticism by calling for the focus to be on reducing carbon emissions rather than attacking “progress” and the energy industry. “We are at a historic turning point. Growth with lower carbon emissions is the future,” said Sultan al-Jaber, also his country’s industry minister.
“We are working with the energy industry to accelerate decarbonization by reducing methane and developing hydrogen,” he added at an energy forum in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the Emirates. “Let’s continue to focus on curbing emissions, not progress.” With the world’s population projected to increase and the demand for energy associated with it, “as long as the world uses hydrocarbons, we need to ensure they are as low-carbon intensity as possible,” said the Emirati official.
Green energy advocates “are living in a dream,” says Qatar’s energy minister
Sultan al-Jaber does not say how to reduce CO2 emissions without affecting the main emitters, namely the oil giants. But as his country’s special representative for climate change and also head of Masdar, the Emirati company for renewable energies, he wants to calm down. “The United Arab Emirates is approaching this task with humility, a strong sense of responsibility and a great sense of urgency,” he assured, describing the fight against climate change as “central” for his country, which risks being particularly affected like this Whole very hot region of the Gulf, rich in hydrocarbons.
Nonetheless, the Emirates sent the largest contingent of industry lobbyists to the COP27, held in Egypt in November. That this edition has failed to advance the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to uphold the goal of limiting global warming. And that the question of reducing the use of fossil fuels is hardly mentioned in the texts.
Also speaking at the same forum was Qatar’s Energy Minister Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, who defended the hydrocarbon sector and said that green energy advocates lacked “realism”. According to him, they were “living in a dream” that they couldn’t “achieve.” In the face of climate change, “we have to be realistic about what we can achieve,” he said, as Qatar has been heavily coveted in recent months by European countries looking to forego Russian gas.