Next Year's UN Climate Conference Leader: Fight Against Warming Must Not Hurt Economic Growth
The fight against global warming should not be at the expense of economic growth, the UAE oil chief who will lead this year's UN climate talks said on Monday.
Sultan Al Jaber, the United Arab Emirates' special envoy for climate change and CEO of oil giant ADNOC, said the energy transition needed to make the planet "wealthier and healthier". "We need to hold back the global rise in temperatures to 1.5 degrees (Celsius), without slowing economic growth," he told a graduation ceremony at the Mohamed Bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence.
"We need to drive an inclusive energy transition that leaves no one behind, especially in the Global South. We need to make our planet wealthier and healthier at the same time." Al Jaber's appointment as president of COP28 in November and December has been criticised by activists who said it threatens the "legitimacy" of the global forum against climate change. The minister of industry and advanced technology is a veteran of COP meetings and heads a leading renewable energy company. His appointment was welcomed by US climate envoy John Kerry.
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The UAE, one of the world's biggest oil producers, argues that crude remains indispensable to the global economy and is needed to finance the energy transition. The Gulf monarchy is pushing the merits of carbon capture - removing carbon dioxide as fuel is burned, or from the air. It is also spending billions to develop enough renewable energy to cover half of its needs by 2050, and is targeting net-zero domestic carbon emissions by that year - which does not include pollution from the oil it exports.
Ed. - Emphasis added. Oh, and it's kind of nice when you no longer have to pretend that the Same Old Greenwash Bullshit is anything but what it is.
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https://www.news24.com/fin24/climate_future/news/fight-climate-change-without-slowing-growth-says-uaes-cop28-chief-20230130
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