COP28 president denies using UN climate summit to pitch oil deals

COP28 president denies using UN climate summit to pitch oil deals

Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.

Sultan al-Jaber, president-designate of the UN COP28 climate summit and head of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, launched a staunch defence against allegations that he used the United Arab Emirates’ position as host of the global event to discuss oil and gas deals, saying they were “false”.

Speaking in Dubai with less than a day to go before COP28 starts, Jaber said he had never seen nor used the briefing documents obtained by the non-profit Centre for Climate Reporting alongside the BBC, which outlined talking points for the COP president-designate to discuss possible fossil fuel deals with 15 countries including China, Brazil, Germany and Egypt.

“These allegations are false, not true, incorrect and not accurate. It is an attempt to undermine the work of the COP28 presidency,” Jaber told a media briefing at the Dubai Expo City venue for the UN climate summit.

“I promise you, never ever did I see these talking points that they refer to or that I ever even used such talking points in my discussions,” he said, in response to questions.

The UAE is one of the world’s largest oil and gas producers and a