LONDON — The COP28 UN climate conference in Dubai next month is an opportunity for the global oil and gas industry to form a coalition to jointly cut carbon emissions, according to the boss of TotalEnergies.
TotalEnergies CEO and chairman Patrick Pouyanne told a crowd at the Energy Intelligence Forum in London on Tuesday that COP28 President Sultan Al Jaber is using his role “to engage the oil and gas industry and form a common platform.”
The choice of Jaber, the UAE’s minister of industry and advanced technology, as COP president this year has attracted controversy and criticism. He is also CEO of the state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), one of the largest polluters in the world, and the first COP president who also runs an oil company. Jaber is also chairman of state-owned renewables company Masdar and the UAE’s special envoy for climate change. The United Arab Emirates appointed Jaber in January to oversee the climate negotiations, which representatives from more than 190 countries are expected to attend.
Critics say that a fossil fuel executive shouldn’t preside over the climate negotiations, while his advocates, which include US climate envoy John Kerry and former British prime minister Tony Blair, say his connection with the energy industry will help progress the negotiations.
