The president of this year’s United Nations Conference Of The Parties on Climate Change (COP28), Sultan Ahmed Al-Jaber has claimed that there is “no science” to prove that using less fossil fuels will help battle climate change. Sounds like someone’s been doing their own research.
Hundreds of world politicians have gathered in Dubai this past week for the annual COP climate change summit, which Al-Jaber was in charge of arranging so that leaders are able to make policies and agreements which battle the climate change crisis humankind faces.
Funny thing about Al-Jaber though: when he’s not organising climate change summits, he’s the chief executive of the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) state oil company Adnoc.
If you look up the dictionary definition for “Conflict Of Interest”, the provided example is a picture of Al-Jaber’s CV.
This blatant conflict of interest was widely panned at first, because like, come on are you joking? What’s next, are we getting the owner of a casino to host a summit for rehabilitating gamblers?
And from the start of COP28 Al-Jaber managed to land himself in hot water by voicing his skepticism of phasing out fossil fuels as what will help achieve the goals set out in 2015’s Paris Agreement.
“There is no science out there, or no scenario out there, that says that the phase-out of fossil fuel is what’s going to achieve 1.5 degrees,” said Al-Jaber while in a Zoom conversation with Mary Robinson.
Robinson, the first female president of Ireland and is the current chair of Nelson Mandela’s Elders group for ethical leadership, confronted Al-Jaber on the fact that his company intends on investing MORE into fossil fuels, despite the fact that that the whole point of COP28 would be the opposite of that.
“Please help me, show me the roadmap for a phase-out of fossil fuel that will allow for sustainable socioeconomic development, unless you want to take the world back into caves,” responded Al-Jaber.
Sure thing mate, roadmap right here. Took me two seconds to Google that from my cave.
He continued: “I don’t think you will be able to help solve the climate problem by pointing fingers or contributing to the polarisation and the divide that is already happening in the world. Show me the solutions. Stop the pointing of fingers. Stop it.”
In this journalist’s opinion, when a person claims that someone else is making an issue divisive or polarising, it is a weak attempt to play the victim card, and is intended to create chaos or distraction from what truly matters.
Can you think of a time this year when someone with a vested interest in preventing a progressive policy claimed the change (that was actually simple and obvious) was divisive? I sure can.
In an attempt to backtrack these comments which were released by The Guardian, Al-Jaber back-flipped on this scrutiny of the roadmap.
“I have said over and over the phase-down and the phase-out of fossil fuel is inevitable. In fact, it is essential,” he retracted.
Ohhhhh, right right right sorry, I didn’t realise you had said it over and over. You’re right Al-Jaber, I’m just crazy and must be wrong.
A beautiful attempt to gaslight the world from the COP28 President/Adnoc executive. (Wow he really does love natural gasses!)
Al-Jaber was brought on for his role as COP28 President under the guise that having him in this position would be beneficial for showing how these big oil and gas companies are able to work hand-in-hand with world leaders to battle climate change.
And then in an exclusive report from the BBC it was revealed through leaked documents that the hosting country had planned on using the opportunity of having so many world leaders in the UAE… to sell them fossil fuels.
Not to be too divisive or anything but uhh — What. A. Fucking. Joke.
Spokespeople from Al-Jaber and UAE’s COP28 have claimed that the media’s reporting on his comments from one moment during COP28 has been unfair and sensationalised.
“There are many things that are happening here at COP that you are not reporting about, and you focus on this one thing,” stated COP28 Director-General Majid Al Suwaidi.
You can spin it and blame other people however you want, but it will never cover up the smell of burning gas.
In honour of your request Al-Jaber, I won’t point fingers at you. I only need my middle one.
