Houston: Sultan Al JaberThe oil and gas industry must lead the fight against climate change, the president of this year’s UN climate talks said on Monday.
Al Jaber is the Minister of Industry of the United Arab Emirates and also the Chief Executive of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company of the United Arab Emirates.
Climate activist It has also criticized the decision to hold COP28 in the United Arab Emirates, a major oil producer, and the selection of Al Jaber as the president of the meeting.
“No one can get behind this, and the industry in particular, must develop solutions,” Al Jaber told hundreds of oil and gas executives at the Sierra Week conference in Houston, Texas.
“Actually, it Industry must show responsibility. And lead the way,” he added.
The last UN climate talks in Egypt in November ended with a landmark agreement to create a fund to help developing countries cover the costs of climate-related natural disasters. .
But observers are disappointed that little progress has been made on reducing planet-warming carbon emissions from fossil fuels.
Al-Jaber, who has participated in more than 10 COP meetings, led the UAE delegation to the last UN climate summit in Egypt. It was the largest delegation ever to participate in the negotiations, and the largest in COP history.
In Houston, he said the oil and gas industry “must rapidly decarbonize its operations … and has a critical role to play in decarbonizing its customers.”
“The science is clear. We need to go all the way back from net zero,” he said.
The oil and gas industry has been accused of delaying the climate and energy transition by working to preserve fossil fuel emissions and use.
The UAE, one of the world’s largest oil producers, argues that crude oil is indispensable to the global economy and needs to finance the energy transition.
The Gulf kingdom is touting the merits of carbon capture — removing carbon dioxide from the air when fuel is burned.