UAE Cop28 chief says fossil fuels must be part of climate deal, urges delegates to ‘adopt a different mindset’
- Sultan Al Jaber, president of Cop28 and chief of UAE oil giant ADNOC, strenuously denied this week he used the Cop presidency to pursue new fossil fuel deals
- In a significant step, nations formally approved on Thursday the launch of a ‘loss and damage’ fund for climate-vulnerable countries
The Emirati host of the UN climate conference said on Thursday that fossil fuels must be part of any deal as the crucial negotiations on global warming opened in Dubai.
The two-week-long talks come at a pivotal moment, with emissions still rising and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) declaring 2023 is set to be the hottest year in human history.
In a significant step, nations formally approved on Thursday the launch of a “loss and damage” fund for climate-vulnerable countries after a year of hard-fought negotiations over how it would work.
World leaders have been urged to move quicker to a clean energy future and make deeper cuts to emissions, with the world off-track to keeping global temperature rises below agreed levels.
It is essential that no issue is left off the table … we must look for ways and ensure the inclusion of the role of fossil fuels
There have been high-powered calls for the nearly 200 nations at Cop to agree on a phase-out of fossil fuels, a proposal opposed by some powerful nations, and one that has dogged past negotiations.
