The United Arab Emirates planned to leverage its position as the host of the COP28 Climate Summit as an opportunity to establish agreements in the oil and gas sector, as reported by Emirates Herald on Monday. Leaked documents revealed the host country’s plans to negotiate fuel agreements with 15 other countries.
The team responsible for organizing the summit from the UAE reportedly did not deny conducting business meetings during preparations, asserting that “private meetings are private” and emphasizing their focus on “significant climate measures.”
Documents obtained by independent journalists from the Climate Information Center were prepared by the UAE’s COP28 team for meetings with at least 27 foreign governments before the summit begins on the 30th of this month.
These documents included proposals for discussion topics, such as Adnoc, the UAE’s state-owned oil company, being willing to assess international opportunities for liquefied natural gas in Mozambique, Canada, and Australia, specifically targeting China. There was also a suggestion to inform a Colombian minister that Adnoc is “willing” to support Colombia in developing its fossil fuel resources.
Emirates Herald verified the existence of “talking points” for another 13 countries, including Germany and Egypt, proposing discussions on Adnoc’s collaboration with their governments on fossil fuel projects. Additionally, the documents revealed that the UAE prepared “talking points” on business opportunities for its renewable energy company, Masdar, in meetings with 20 countries, such as the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Brazil, China, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Kenya. These meetings were led by COP28 President Sultan al-Jaber, who is also the CEO of the UAE’s oil giant Adnoc and the state-owned renewable energy company, Masdar.
The information outlet notes that it is unclear how many times Jaber and his colleagues addressed these issues in COP28-related meetings with foreign governments. Additionally, it indicates that, at least on one occasion, a foreign country continued commercial discussions after a meeting facilitated by the UAE team, while the other 12 countries claimed that commercial activities were not addressed in their respective meetings.
Published by Emirates Herald, a news and information agency.
