The World Briefly

November 28, 2023

A Risky Opportunity

United Arab Emirates

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The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is planning to use its position as the country of the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) to negotiate oil and gas deals, according to a series of leaked documents that have cast a pall on the international talks happening later this week, Politico reported Monday.

The Centre for Climate Reporting released documents Monday showing briefing notes prepared by the UAE organizers for meetings with more than a dozen foreign governments during the COP28 summit that starts Thursday.

For example, the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) is expected to tell Berlin that it is ready and able to increase liquefied natural gas supplies to Germany.

The CEO of ADNOC is Sultan Ahmed al-Jaber, who is also COP28’s president.

Meanwhile, the briefing notes also propose telling oil-rich nations, such as Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, that “there is no conflict between sustainable development of any country’s natural resources and its commitment to climate change.”

The leaked documents include estimates of ADNOC’s commercial interests in various countries. Notably, ADNOC’s business ties with China amounted to $15 billion in the past year, $4 billion with the United Kingdom, and $2 billion with the Netherlands.

Following the leaks, foreign officials and climate change advocates warned that if the allegations were true, they would amount to “a real scandal” for the UN conference and damage its credibility.

However, COP28 representatives countered that the documents are “inaccurate and were not used by COP28 in meetings.”

This story originally appeared in the November 28, 2023 newsletter, Hitting Pause.