'Moment of truth': Fossil fuel lobby casts long shadow over COP28

The 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) United Nations (UN) Climate Summit is scheduled to commence on Thursday in Dubai, amid mounting allegations of major influence by the global oil and gas industry. Days before the pivotal UN conference on the climate crisis begins, the BBC reported on Monday that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) planned to leverage its role as the host of UN climate talks to strike oil and gas deals.

A series of leaked briefing documents, obtained by independent journalists at the Centre for Climate Reporting working alongside the BBC, reveal that the UAE's COP28 team explored business opportunities for the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc), the UAE’s state-owned national oil giant.

The documents prepared for COP28 President Sultan Al Jaber, who also remains the chief executive officer of Adnoc despite calls for him to step down, show that the UAE’s COP28 team proposed fossil fuel deals in meetings with at least 27 foreign governments.

This included informing Chinese officials that Adnoc is willing to jointly evaluate international liquefied natural gas opportunities in Mozambique, Canada, and Australia, as well as suggesting to a Colombian minister that Adnoc “stands ready” to support the country’s move to develop its fossil fuel resources.

The documents also reveal that the UAE explored commercial opportunities for its state renewable energy company, Masdar, ahead of meetings with 20 countries, including the UK, the US, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Brazil, China, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Kenya, the BBC said.

On Tuesday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres told reporters, “I can’t believe it’s true” when asked about the allegations, without offering further comment, AFP reported.

In an interview with AFP on Saturday, Jaber had defended the large presence of heavy-emitting industries, including the oil and gas sector.

“Everyone needs to be part of this process, and everyone needs to be held responsible and accountable,” he said.

A case in point is one of the star announcements expected at the climate summit: a pledge by the global oil and gas sector to eliminate methane emissions, a potent greenhouse gas, by 2030.

At least 150 countries and 25 national and international oil companies have signed the pledge, Adnan Amin, chief executive officer of COP28, told Bloomberg. However, international media reported in August that the host country UAE has failed to report its oil industry’s methane emissions to the UN for almost a decade.

Questions have also been raised about the UAE’s close relations with the country’s oil establishment. The Guardian reported in June that Adnoc was able to read emails to and from the COP28 office.

More than 70,000 politicians, diplomats, campaigners, financiers, and business leaders are set to attend the annual summit to negotiate ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which continue to rise and are pushing 2023 towards becoming the hottest year on record.

Late Monday, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) said the oil and gas industry was being “unjustly vilified”.

In a statement, Opec Secretary-General Haitham al-Ghais pushed back against accusations that the industry is not doing enough to reduce carbon emissions.

The industry was taken to task last week for its role in the climate crisis and its commitment to clean energy by the Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA).

According to an IEA report published last Thursday, oil and gas companies face a “moment of truth” in which they must choose between deepening the climate crisis or embracing the shift to clean energy.