united nations climate change conference
200+ Groups Implore COP28 Nations to Address UAE's Human Rights and Climate Abuses
"Allowing COP28 to be held by the rulers of a repressive petrostate, and overseen by an oil executive, is reckless, represents a blatant conflict of interest, and threatens the legitimacy of the whole process."
More than 200 civil society organizations from around the world on Wednesday urged leaders of countries participating in this autumn's United Nations Climate Change Conference—popularly known as COP28—to address host nation United Arab Emirates' "human rights record and destructive policies on climate change."
"We support the concerns expressed by climate justice movements that allowing COP28 to be held by the rulers of a repressive petrostate, and overseen by an oil executive, is reckless, represents a blatant conflict of interest, and threatens the legitimacy of the whole process," the groups wrote in a letter, referring to Sultan Ahmed al-Jaber, the CEO of the United Arab Emirates' state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC)—one of the world's largest fossil fuel firms.
Earlier this year, one European Union lawmaker likened al-Jaber's COP28 presidency to "having a tobacco multinational overseeing the internal work of the World Health Organization."
The groups' letter continues:
Climate justice and human rights are deeply interconnected—there cannot be one without the other. As COP28 delegates prepare to attend the talks in Dubai, it is crucial for the international community to use the opportunity to shine a spotlight on the UAE's human rights record, and to stand in solidarity with communities on the frontlines working to stop climate change impacts and human rights violations in the UAE and across the world.
The signatories called on the world leaders to:
- Demand that the UAE not spy on COP28 attendees and end unlawful surveillance that violates international human rights law;
- Call on the UAE to release all prisoners of conscience;
- Demand action on violations of women's rights;
- Condemn violations of LGBTQ+ rights;
- Call for workers' rights reforms and reparation for forced labor;
- Urge the UAE to stop supporting human rights violators in Yemen and across the Middle East and North Africa; and
- Publicly repudiate UAE greenwashing and fossil fuel hypocrisy.
"In addition, we urge all nations to make meaningful and ambitious commitments at COP28, with rich countries taking responsibility for their historical emissions and leading the way with commitments in line with their common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities and principles of equity," the letter asserts.
"COP28 must produce a global commitment to phase out all fossil fuels and fossil fuel subsidies at the speed needed to keep global average temperature increases below 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels," the signers added.
COP28 President's State Oil Firm Reported Just 7% of Emissions Last Year: Global Witness
"This is a classic case of hypocritical fossil fuel firms saying one thing and doing another," said a senior Global Witness investigator.
An investigation published Friday by the international NGO Global Witness revealed that the oil giant run by Emirati Minister of Industry Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber—who is also president of this year's United Nations Climate Change Conference—was responsible for 14 times more planet-heating carbon emissions last year than it reported.
Last month, Al Jaber, who is CEO of state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), said that nations attending this autumn's U.N. summit, or COP28, in Dubai "must be brutally honest" about "all emissions, everywhere. [Scope] 1, 2, and 3."
As Global Witness explained:
Scope 1 and 2 emissions do not include pollution released when fossil fuels like oil and gas are burned for energy. These—known as scope 3—typically make up the vast majority of an oil company's carbon footprint. Although most oil and gas majors do not traditionally track Scope 3, some such as BP and Chevron do include scope 3 reductions in their climate targets.
Analysis of production data from Rystad Energy shows that ADNOC in 2022 produced over 650 million barrels of oil—enough to power China's oil demand for six weeks—and over 40 billion cubic meters of gas.
Emissions from those products alone are calculated to just over 340 million tonnes of CO2—more than the U.K. produces each year, and 14.1 times higher than the emissions the ADNOC disclosed this week.
"This is a classic case of hypocritical fossil fuel firms saying one thing and doing another," Global Witness senior investigator Patrick Galey said in a statement. "Sultan Al Jaber is on one hand asking companies to include all emissions in their climate strategies, while his firm is patting itself on the back for disclosing only a tiny fraction of its true climate impact."
"Fossil fuels account for 90% of the carbon emissions that are heating the planet and inflicting misery and loss on millions of people. The climate doesn't respond to clever accounting," Galey added. "While conceding publicly that a liveble future means cutting all emissions, Al Jaber's firm is refusing to acknowledge the vast majority of its products' emissions as its own."
At the same time, Al Jaber is presiding over a massive expansion of ADNOC—the world's 11th-largest fossil fuel company—that is planned to boost production by the equivalent of over 7.5 billion barrels of oil in the coming years. According toThe Guardian, that's the world's fifth-largest increase.
Climate defenders have warned all year that COP28 is likely to end in failure after the UAE appointed Al Jaber to preside over the summit, which seeks to "unite the world towards agreement" on "the most pressing global challenge of our time."