The chairman of the Emirati state oil company ADNOC is to lead the upcoming world climate conference COP28 in Dubai as president. Sultan Ahmed Al Dschaber, who is also Industry Minister of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has more than two decades of experience as managing director and in leading government positions, the state agency WAM reported today.
“This will be a pivotal year in a pivotal decade in the fight for climate,” Al Dschaber said of his appointment. The President of the past COP27 in Egypt, Samih Schukri, congratulated.
The fact that a top representative of the oil industry in the Gulf should chair the most important conference of the year on climate protection caused criticism. The big oil companies finally have a hand in the climate negotiations under the umbrella of the UN, tweeted the climate change professor at University College London, Mark Maslin.
The Emirates are among the ten largest oil producers in the world. The world climate conference COP28 will open on November 30 in the metropolis of Dubai. Around 70,000 participants are expected.
