Focus on emissions: UAE’s climate talks and oil boss

Focus on emissions: UAE’s climate talks and oil boss

ABU DHABI: The president of this year’s COP28 climate talks, who heads a major oil company, on Saturday urged a focus on lower emissions to reduce global warming, warning that energy needs were set to accelerate. Sultan Al-Jaber, the United Arab Emirates’ special envoy for climate change and CEO of oil giant ADNOC, said less-polluting fossil fuels would remain part of the energy mix, along with renewables and other solutions.

“As long as the world still uses hydrocarbons, we must ensure they are the least carbon intensive possible,” Al-Jaber told the Global Energy Forum in Abu Dhabi, two days after his unveiling as COP president. “We’re working with the energy industry on accelerating decarbonisation, reducing methane and expanding hydrogen.

“Let’s keep our focus on holding back emissions, not progress.” Al-Jaber’s nomination on Thursday prompted protests from climate activists concerned that a senior figure from the oil industry has little incentive to reduce the use of hydrocarbons. The Gulf monarchy argues that oil remains indispensable to the global economy and is pushing the merits of carbon capture-removing carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, as fuel is burned or from the air.

Al-Jaber said the UAE would organize this year’s United Nations climate summit with