Greta Thunberg on Abu Dhabi’s oil chief leading COP28 climate summit: ‘Completely ridiculous’

Greta Thunberg on Abu Dhabi’s oil chief leading COP28 climate summit: ‘Completely ridiculous’

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg on Thursday became the latest vocal critic of the United Arab Emirates' decision to name the head of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) as president of this year's COP28 climate summit. Asked her view on the appointment during a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos, she said, "Lobbyists have been influencing these conferences since forever, and this just puts a very clear face to it... it's completely ridiculous." The presidency has from climate activists and civil society organizations since its mid-January announcement. The UAE, one of the world's top oil producers, will host the U.N.-led climate summit from Nov. 30 to Dec. 12, 2023. Adnoc chief executive Sultan al-Jaber has spoken about the need for climate action, saying during a Jan. 14 conference that the UAE has "a clear sense of responsibility and a great sense of urgency" in that direction. "We don't need to wait for the global stocktake to know what it will say. We are way off track," he said at the time. "The world is playing catch-up when it comes to the key Paris goal of holding global temperatures down to 1.5 degrees. And the hard reality