When Sultan al-Jaber, Industry Minister of the United Arab Emirates and also head of the national oil company ADNOC in Abu Dhabi, welcomed the delegates to an oil trade fair in his country last autumn, he spoke of an energy landscape that was confronted with a "perfect storm", who could fundamentally change them.

Christopher Ehrhardt

Correspondent for the Arab countries based in Beirut.

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As a representative of a large producer of fossil fuels, he repeatedly emphasized the need not to lose sight of the future despite all the current thirst for energy and to invest in the "clean energy" of tomorrow.

"Maximum energy, minimum emissions" was his motto.

Critics often dismiss such statements about the Gulf as reassurances and empty promises.

The monarchs there are too dependent on climate-damaging oil and gas production.

Experts who deal with international climate diplomacy point accordingly that it could be seen as a "curious" choice that Sultan al-Jaber, his country's special climate envoy from 2010 to 2016 and since November 2020, was appointed President of the World Climate Conference. which is to take place in the Emirates in autumn.

They emphasized earlier statements by al-Jaber, in which he spoke of "progress with pragmatism" and announced an increase in investments in the production of fossil fuels - along an argument repeatedly used in the Gulf, also in today's energy (i.e. oil and gas) to invest in order to be able to manage the transition to an energy of tomorrow.

Tasneem Essop, managing director of the umbrella organization Climate Action Network International, to which more than 1,000 environmental and climate protection organizations belong, demanded that the new president of the climate conference resign from his position as head of ADNOC.

"He cannot lead a process designed to address the climate crisis with such a conflict of interest as he leads an industry at fault for this crisis," she said in a statement.

Failure to do so would amount to “a complete takeover” of the UN climate talks by a national oil company and its associated fossil fuel lobbyists.

“Highly inadequate” climate policy

The assessment of the Emirates, which have set a climate-neutral emissions balance as a goal by 2050, is very critical, not least because of the planned expansion of the oil and gas industry.

The "Climate Action Tracker" website, which compares climate policy with the goals set, came to the overall conclusion of "highly inadequate".

But on the other hand, it cannot be denied that the announcements to invest in clean energies are meant seriously.

On the one hand, the Arab Gulf States, where summer temperatures are already unbearable, are severely affected by the effects of climate change.

On the other hand, investments in (environmentally friendly) future technologies are an important part of the economic restructuring work in the Gulf in order to become less dependent on oil revenues.

The monarchies in the Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar regard the success of corresponding reform programs as vital for their survival.

Sultan al-Jaber, who is now instrumental in shaping the future Emirati economy, was for years the head of Masdar, a state-controlled clean energy company,