UAE COP President: World 'Way Off Track' With Climate Goals

Sultan al-Jaber, Who Was Recently Chosen By the United Arab Emirates To Preside Over the COP Summit This Year, Has Stated That the World Is Far From Achieving Its Climate Goals. This Is a Major Problem That Needs To Be Addressed Urgently.

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"We are not on track to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement," he said in a speech in Abu Dhabi. "The world needs to do more to reduce emissions and prevent global temperatures from rising more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels."

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Climate activists were quick to react to the news of Al-Jaber's appointment on Thursday, given his role as head of the OPEC member's state oil and gas producer, Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. He's also chairman of Masdar, one of the largest renewable-energy investors in the world. While some see him as a champion of clean energy, others worry that his oil and gas interests will take precedence. Only time will tell how he will approach his new role.

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Al-Jaber didn't directly address the criticism, but said the UAE would approach the task of hosting COP28 with humility. COP28 is scheduled to take place in Dubai in November and December.

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He said that they don't claim to have all of the answers, but they believe that they have something valuable to contribute. He said that he is there to listen and engage.
At an event hosted by the Atlantic Council, he spoke to an audience that included US climate envoy John Kerry and UK energy and business secretary Grant Shapps.
The UAE is calling for COP28 to focus on scaling up wind and solar power as well as hydrogen. It should also be about ensuring poorer countries get financing to develop such technologies and compensation for climate change caused by industrialized nations, al-Jaber said.

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He said that they want the COP to be for everyone and that they want it to be a COP that gets things done across mitigation, adaptation, finance, and loss and damage.
The UAE is one of the world's leading producers of crude oil, pumping out around 3.4 million barrels a day. This puts it ahead of other major OPEC producers like Saudi Arabia and Iraq.

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Some countries argue that fossil fuel producers should have a greater say in climate talks. They have also blamed the surge in oil and gas prices in the past two years on a lack of investment in such fuels in the west.