“Completely ridiculous,” Greta Thunberg called it. The Swedish climate activist talked regarding the appointment of the chairman for the global climate summit that will take place in Dubai at the end of this year. That is an oilman, Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, director of the national oil and gas company of the United Arab Emirates.
Fossil industry lobbyists have long been trying to influence, read: delay, the annual climate talks, Thunberg argued. At the last failed climate conference in Egypt, more than six hundred fossil representatives were present, a quarter more than at the summit a year earlier. “And yet we apparently have to rely on people like this to solve our problems, when they keep showing that they don’t give priority. They put greed and short-term profits above people and the planet.”
Conflict of Interest
With three other climate activists, Thunberg was a guest in Davos last week at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum. Notable acclaim for the four came from the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA), Fatih Birol, who sat at the same discussion table.
He said he was “very happy” that activists are putting climate on the agenda. The IEA, long a conservative stronghold, stated in 2021 that no new oil and gas sources should be drilled from that year in order to limit warming to 1.5 degrees. Whether Al Jaber agrees is doubtful. In November, his state-owned oil company ADNOC announced it would accelerate oil production to meet global energy demand.
Thunberg also received support from former American vice president Al Gore, who in Davos asked with a loud, almost breaking voice how it is possible to put the director of one of the largest oil companies in the world at the head of the climate summit. That creates a conflict of interest, Gore fulminated, at a time when the world is “majorly failing” to reduce CO2to lower emissions.
Don’t judge a book by its cover
The incumbent political power, however, is all set with Al Jaber. European Commissioner Frans Timmermans looks forward to preparing the climate summit with Al Jaber. Just like US climate envoy John Kerry. “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” Kerry said eloquently. The oil state is at the forefront, he defended the choice. Al Jaber has also set up a large renewable energy company.
Well, it might. With a lot of imagination it might be possible to imagine that it is actually a genius way to finally move the fossil world towards serious climate goals. An oilman who sees the light and gets the entire fossil industry to put the billions of profits into clean energy as quickly as possible. Instead of buying back your own shares en masse and spending a few percentage points on green technology.
Urgency
For the time being, it seems more like an implausible fairy tale. In a recent speech Al Jaber spoke of ‘finding the balance’ when it comes to climate talks. He meant balancing between reducing emissions and meeting energy demand. It’s the well-known ‘take it easy, we’re on it’ message from the fossil industry.
Such a prudent approach is just nowhere near what is needed to prevent serious climate disruption. Global emissions are still rising. With the current plans of all countries, emissions will fall by 5 to 10 percent in 2030. While 45 percent is needed. Al Jaber doesn’t have to froth the mouth like Al Gore, but some of the urgency the American wants to convey wouldn’t be out of place for a leader of climate talks.
