The first half of COP28 has been marred by controversy and “conflicts of interest” after it emerged that the event president and oil magnate, Sultan Al Jaber, had made claims that there is “no science” to suggest a phase-out of fossil fuels is needed if global temperature rises are to be restricted to 1.5°C.
There had been high hopes for COP28 in Dubai, which comes at a point of “no turning back” in the fight against manmade climate change and the battle to keep global temperature rises to 1.5°C by the end of the century.
Nevertheless, the very choice of appointing an oil giant as the event’s president drew immediate unease from activists, scientists and world leaders alike.
Sultan Al Jaber is an Emirati politician who is the Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the head of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and the chairman of Masdar, the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company.
In the last few days, however, these worries of a “conflict of interest” have grown into mass concern after it was revealed that prior to COP28, the engineer had said, “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 1.5C.”
The comments put him directly at odds with UN Secretary-General António Guterres, who, on the opening day of the event, had said, “The science is clear: the 1.5C limit is only possible if we ultimately stop burning all fossil fuels. Not reduce, not abate. Phase out, with a clear timeframe.”
Phase-down or phase-out
Eight years on from the Paris Agreement of 2015, one of the major hoped-for outcomes of COP28 is that the world leaders gathered will be able to agree on an end to fossil fuels. Whether that will be a “phase-out” or a watered-down “phase-down” remains to be seen, but Al Jaber’s unearthed comments have ignited distress amongst thousands of international scientists, who have called on the public-at-large to become climate activists.
After the outpour of criticism regarding his comments, Al Jaber has sought to regain control of the narrative and, on 4th December, held a press conference in which he said, “The phase-down and the phase-out of fossil fuels… is essential. It needs to be orderly, fair, just and responsible.”
“Let’s remember why we are all here,” he added. “We are all here because we made a very clear call to action and we’ve been very upfront about it and we said clearly and repeatedly that the UAE takes this task with humility, responsibility and we fully understand the urgency behind this matter. We are here because we very much believe and respect the science. 43% of global emissions must be reduced by 2030.”
Monaco and Prince Albert at COP28
Meanwhile, Monaco’s Prince Albert has kept fighting the good fight in the name of positive action and philanthropic endeavour.
A busy first day of events on 1st December saw the Monegasque sovereign make a speech urging “increased and rapid action to keep global temperature rises within the +1.5°C limit” in front of hundreds of other Heads of State and world leaders.
See more: Prince Albert II of Monaco’s first day at COP28 in pictures
While Prince Albert’s call for “tangible and credible commitments that will put us on the path to a low-carbon and climate-resilient way of development” is markedly different to Al Jaber’s comments on a phase-out taking society “back into caves”, Monaco’s leader nevertheless offered his “full support” to the Emirati Presidency “in order to make this conference a success”.
Prince Albert began 2nd December by delivering the opening speech at a side-event entitled ‘The role of environmental philanthropy in the implementation of the UN process’, which had been co-organised by the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, the Scientific Centre of Monaco, the Meri Foundation, the Cortes Solari Foundation, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) at the Science for Climate Action Pavilion.
Next, he headed to the Ocean Pavilion for a bilateral meeting with IPCC President Professor Jim Skea ahead of the ‘Sea of Change: Advancing Sustainable Solutions to Combat Plastic Pollution and Protect Blue Economies in the Mediterranean Sea’ conference.
Later came another major moment in the spotlight for the Prince as he gave a speech at the high-level Global Review of the Paris Agreement, a mandated event, which was again attended by numerous Heads of State. Prince Albert used his time behind the microphone to advocate the importance of including ocean preservation and biodiversity in the Paris context.
Prince Albert continued on to a United Nations Ocean Conference event, the next edition of which will be held in Nice in 2025. In his comments, the Prince noted, “The ocean still too often remains little considered in international negotiations, beyond the climate [talks], even if the recent adoption of the agreement on the High Seas Treaty has made it possible to advance certain important aspects.”
The day concluded with a visit to the Jameel Arts Center as part of the Ocean Innovators Platform, which is being backed by the FPA2.
“Aiming to promote entrepreneurship, innovation and investment, this event has become an unmissable event to showcase cutting-edge technologies and inventive solutions geared towards a sustainable blue economy,” said a representative for the Prince and the Palais Princier de Monaco in post-event comments.
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Photo credit: Axel Bastello / Palais Princier de Monaco /COP28 / Christopher Pike / Mahmoud Khaled