COP28: host UAE will not challenge investors on ‘sensitive’ fossil fuel burning

Ahead of the COP28 summit in November of this year, it has been reported that the host - the United Arab Emirates - will avoid tabling a range of sensitive net zero-related issues, most notably fossil fuel burning.

In a document that may be welcomed by some in the oil and gas industry, the UAE government has compiled "a comprehensive list of touchy and sensitive issues" that should not be brought up during the conference.

The paper, which was leaked to UK newspaper The Guardian, sets out "strategic messages" from the UAE government, to be used in media requests, which ranges from increased oil and gas production by the UAE and fossil fuel burning to the war in Yemen and human trafficking.

A key COP28 message in the document states that “we need to reduce emissions in the systems we depend on today." A statement which has been denounced by a former UN climate chief as “dangerous” - namely by merely focussing on emissions, rather than the burning of fossil fuels.

'Supercharge’ climate finance

The leaked document comes at an awkward time for the COP28 presidency, as UAE authorities are keen to attract global investors to the summit in order to kickstart plans to 'supercharge' the global climate finance space.

'Mobilising' private investors and introducing reforms within finance powerhouses will be COP28's key priorities, with the aim to hit $100bn for a long-promised fund to assist poorer countries in their journeys to net zero, Sultan Al Jaber, the president-designate of COP28, said recently.

“We must supercharge climate finance, making it more available, more accessible and more affordable to drive delivery across every climate pillar,” he said.

Al Jaber did acknowledge that “expectations for COP28 are high, [but] trust is low."

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COP28 to ‘supercharge’ climate finance by ‘mobilising’ private investors