US climate chief John Kerry supports the UAE’s decision to appoint the CEO of a state-owned oil company to chair the upcoming UN climate talks in Dubai, citing his work on renewable energy projects.
In an interview with the Associated Press on Sunday, the former US Secretary of State acknowledged that the Emirates and other countries that rely on fossil fuels to fund their coffers face a search for “some balance”.
However, he dismissed the idea that Sultan al-Jaber’s appointment should be automatically disqualified because he runs the Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. But activists equated this with “asking arms dealers to hold peace talks” when authorities announced his appointment on Thursday.
“I think that Dr. Sultan al-Jaber is a great choice because he is the head of the company. This company knows it needs to make the transition,” Kerry said after attending an energy conference in the Emirates capital. “He knows it – and the UAE leadership is committed to the transition.”
Still, Abu Dhabi plans to increase its crude oil production from 4 million barrels a day to 5 million, while the UAE pledges to be carbon neutral by 2050 – a goal that is difficult to estimate and which the Emirates have yet to fully explain how it will achieve .
Kerry pointed to a speech al-Jaber gave in Abu Dhabi on Saturday in which he urged the upcoming Cop – or Conference of Parties – to move “from goals to implementation through mitigation, adaptation, funding and loss and damage”. . Al-Jaber also warned that the world “needs to be honest with ourselves about how much progress we’ve actually made and how much further and faster we really need to go.”
“He made it absolutely clear that we are not progressing fast enough. We must reduce emissions. We need to significantly accelerate this transition,” Kerry said. “So I’m very confident that the right issues will come up on the table, that they will act on it and get countries to recognize their responsibilities.”
Each year, the country hosting the UN negotiations appoints a person to chair the talks. Hosts usually choose an experienced diplomat, as the conversations between competing nations and their interests can be incredibly difficult to navigate. The position of the nominee as “Cop President” is confirmed by the delegates at the beginning of the talks, usually without objection.
Al-Jaber is a trusted confidante of UAE leader Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. He also led a once-ambitious project to build a $22 billion “carbon neutral” city on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi – an effort that was later scaled back after the global financial crisis that hit the Emirates hard from 2008. Today he also serves as the chairman of Masdar, a clean energy company that grew out of the project.
However, skepticism about al-Jaber remains among activists. A call from countries including India and the United States for an oil and natural gas phase-out was never publicly discussed during the Cop27 in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh in November.
Activists fear a similar thing could happen in the Emirates to Cop, who is being held for the second straight year in a Middle Eastern country that relies on fossil fuel sales.
Asked about this concern, Kerry said: “I don’t think the UAE was involved in changing that.”
“There’s going to be some level of scrutiny — and I think that’s going to be very constructive,” said the former U.S. senator and 2004 presidential nominee. “It’s going to help people, you know, stay on the line here.”
“I think this is a time, a new time, for accountability,” he added.