Al Jaber also said a phase-out of fossil fuels would not allow sustainable development "unless you want to take the world back into caves".
The comments were "incredibly concerning" and "verging on climate denial", scientists said, and are at odds with the position of the UN secretary general, António Guterres.
Al Jaber made the comments in ill-tempered responses to questions from Mary Robinson, the chair of the Elders group and a former UN special envoy on climate change, during a live online event on 21 November. As well as running Cop28 in Dubai, Al Jaber is the chief executive of the United Arab Emirates' state oil company, Adnoc, which many observers see as a conflict of interest.
More than 100 countries already support a phase-out of fossil fuels. Whether the final Cop28 agreement calls for this or uses weaker language such as "phase-down" is one of the most fiercely fought issues at the summit and may be the key determinant of its success. Deep and rapid cuts are needed to bring fossil fuel emissions to zero and limit fast-worsening climate impacts.
Al Jaber spoke with Robinson at a She Changes Climate event. Robinson said: "We're in an absolute crisis that is hurting women and children more than anyone ... and it's because we have not yet committed to phasing out fossil fuel. That is the one decision that Cop28 can take and in many ways, because you're head of Adnoc, you could actually take it with more credibility."
Al Jaber said: "I accepted to come to this meeting to have a sober and mature conversation. I'm not in any way signing up to any discussion that is alarmist. There is no science out there, or no scenario out there, that says that the phase-out of fossil fuel is what's going to achieve 1.5C."
This story is from the December 04, 2023 edition of The Guardian.
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This story is from the December 04, 2023 edition of The Guardian.
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