To understand how we got to this extremely severe environmental situation, it should be specified that the international community has started to take action against climate change through the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which entered into force on March 21, 1994. The Convention aims at formulating legal frameworks and principles for cooperation among States to mitigate climate change. The objective of this framework is to stabilize atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in order to avoid “dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system” (1). Despite this, the rapidity with which climate change is evolving and damaging the environment and people’s lives is alarming, but what is even more disconcerting is the attitude of many countries towards the effects of climate change.
Episodes of heat waves, droughts, floods, and superstorms are increasingly frequent, and the standards set by previous panels, including the 1997 Kyoto Protocol (2) and the 2015 Paris Agreement (3), among others, are not being fully respected by the countries that have signed these documents. Despite this, the contracting countries of the UNFCCC gather every year in the so-called Conferences of the Parties (COP) where, according to the UN, “they review the implementation of the Convention and any other legal instruments that the COP adopts and take decisions necessary to promote the effective implementation of the Convention, including institutional and administrative arrangements” (4).
The last Conference of the Parties, COP 27, was held in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt in November 2022. In this occasion, representatives of States parties found themselves discussing several pressing issues such as energy, the cost of living, the public debt of many countries, the reduction of biodiversity and geopolitical tensions between the great powers, exacerbated by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Compared to the predictions made at the 2015 Paris Conference, the increase in the average global temperature is already 1.1°C, which is quite frightening. This notwithstanding, according to the International Institute for Sustainable Development, for the first time, in Sharm El-Sheik, “countries agreed to recognize the need for finance to respond to loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change, and quickly established a fund and the necessary funding arrangements, with the details to be worked out over the coming year” (5). However, the respect of such decisions is to be seen given that, as reported by Reuters, at COP27 were participating more than 600 fossil fuel lobbyists (6). Moreover, as already stated, last year Egypt held the event in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, but the country is not renowned for its protection of the environment, let alone human rights. Indeed, human rights groups have repeatedly condemned the behavior of Egypt, led by President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and, according to Aljazeera, activists noted the presence of illegal State surveillance and intimidation tactics during the November event. Among other things, out of a total of 20 sponsors or partners of the climate summit, 18 were identified as direct supporters or partners of the fossil fuel industry (7).
The choice to host COP28, to be held from 30 November to 12 December 2023, fell on the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This choice brings with it some rather relevant as well as puzzling observations, not only similar to those made for Egypt, but very relevant about the person who has been given the Presidency of this important event. Generally, as a matter of facts, the country hosting the COP is responsible for appointing a person to chair the talks, who must be approved by the delegates at the start of the negotiations and without objection. Moreover, the COP President is chosen by the host country with no involvement of the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, or the Secretariat of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (7).
The COP28 conference will be the first global assessment since the important 2015 Paris Agreement and UAE have chosen Sultan Al-Jaber as Conference President. However, this individual turns out to be a controversial as well as a biased figure on this significant occasion. Al-Jaber is currently CEO of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, minister for industry and advanced technology, and climate envoy (8). Besides that, he is also very close to UAE’s President, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
Al-Jaber’s appointment promptly generated criticism from environmental activists because of his roles going so far as to claim that his positions lead to a significant conflict of interest with respect to his appointment as COP28 chair. The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company is in fact one of the largest producers of crude oil: they pump about 4 million barrels of crude oil per day and are on the verge of reaching their goal of 5 millions of barrels per day. The company thus produces a significant amount of carbon dioxide, a source of heat that the UN negotiations hope to limit (9); hence, here is the significant conflicts of interest. Activists are pressing for Al-Jaber to step down from his positions as an oil tycoon while chairing COP28. Indeed, according to the BBC, activists are convinced that “someone steeped in the oil industry may not rush countries to rapidly reduce their production and use of fossil fuel, which scientists say is crucial to avoiding dangerous climate change” (8). This notwithstanding, Al-Jaber has called for a “pragmatic, realistic and solution-oriented approach,” stating that the intent of the UAE and other oil-producing Gulf countries is for a realistic transition to decarbonization (6). This will prove to be to be seen given that fossil fuel producers are known to water down the emissions reduction ambitions set during these Conferences. In addition to this, according to Reuters, in Egypt, the UAE and other Gulf countries have benefited from favorable treatment by the Egyptian government. Egypt, an exporter of natural gas, is in fact a large recipient of funds from Gulf countries (6).
COP28 is therefore already subjected to significant controversy; not only because the conference will be chaired by Al-Jaber, but also because the UAE is one of the largest oil and gas producers. All of this could significantly detract from the climate talks by virtue of protecting production that uses fossil fuels. However, if concrete decisions are not taken in order to implement targeted actions now, environmental disasters will become more frequent and increasingly devastating.
References:
1) https://unfccc.int/resource/docs/convkp/conveng.pdf
2) https://unfccc.int/resource/docs/convkp/kpeng.pdf
3) https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/english_paris_agreement.pdf
4) https://unfccc.int/process/bodies/supreme-bodies/conference-of-the-parties-cop
5) https://enb.iisd.org/sites/default/files/2022-12/enb12818e_0.pdf
6) https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/uae-names-adnoc-chief-jaber-cop28-climate-conference-president-2023-01-12/
7) https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/1/12/uae-names-oil-company-chief-to-lead-uns-cop-28-climate-talks
8) https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-64240206
9) https://www.npr.org/2023/01/12/1148718415/uae-names-oil-company-chief-cop28-climate-talks
By The European Institute for International Law and International Relations.
