There was no shortage of raised eyebrows when it was announced two years ago that the United Arab Emirates—one of the world’s biggest oil producers—would be next in line to host the United Nations’ annual climate change jamboree.
Disbelief turned to anger with the confirmation earlier this year that the man chosen to preside over the COP28 summit, Sultan Ahmed al-Jaber, also happened to be boss of the UAE’s state oil company, Adnoc. In the words of one charity chief, that went well beyond “putting the fox in charge of the hen house.”
Officials in the Gulf state insisted that al-Jaber was the right man for the job and promised there would be no conflict between his roles as global climate negotiator and Middle Eastern oil and gas salesman.
