The CEO of the oil company of the United Arab Emirates, host country of the UN climate conference this year, will chair COP 28, promising an approach “pragmatic” to fight against global warming.
The Emirati Minister of Industry, head of oil giant ADNOC and special envoy for climate change, Sultan Ahmed al-Jaber, is the “President designate for the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP 28)”says a statement from the official WAM news agency on Thursday, January 12.
Total and the environment: the climate bomb
“We will bring a pragmatic, realistic and solution-oriented approach”said Sultan Ahmed al-Jaber, quoted in the press release.
“First CEO to chair a COP”Sultan al-Jaber has been running the national oil company since 2016, as well as Masdar, the Emirati renewable energy company.
Climate action, an “economic opportunity”
The United Arab Emirates, which are among the world’s leading oil exporters, are advocating for a gradual exit from hydrocarbons, and have pledged to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
“Climate action is a huge economic opportunity for investing in sustainable growth. Funding is the key”Sultan Ahmed al-Jaber said in the statement.
Climate: it’s not too late to act
The last world conference on climate, organized in November in Egypt, was marked by the adoption of a resolution on the compensation of the poorest countries for the damage caused by climate change.
But this COP27 failed to advance the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, to maintain the objective of limiting global warming. The next edition will be held in Dubai in November and December.
