US and EU lawmakers call for UAE to remove Jaber from UN climate role

US and EU lawmakers call for UAE to remove Jaber from UN climate role

More than 100 US lawmakers and members of the European parliament have called for removal of the head of the United Arab Emirates’ state-owned oil company Adnoc as the president-designate of the UN COP28 climate summit this year.

The UAE, as the host country for COP28, earlier this year appointed Sultan al-Jaber to lead the climate summit to be held in Dubai from the end of November.

In a joint letter addressed to UN officials, and US and European leaders including US President Joe Biden and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the lawmakers call for the UAE to withdraw Jaber’s appointment as his position as an oil executive risked “undermining the negotiations”. 

The group, comprised mainly of Democratic members of the US Congress and left-leaning members of the European parliament, expressed “profound concern” that the UN rules allowed private sector polluters to exert “undue influence” over the process of the climate summit.

Last year’s COP summit hosted by Egypt ended in disappointment for climate activists as well as many developed and developing nations.

Countries including Saudi Arabia and Russia blocked an effort by a broad coalition of more than 80 countries, including the US and EU, to include a reference to phasing down