Abu Dhabi – The president of the upcoming COP28 climate talks told an Abu Dhabi oil conference on Monday that the fossil fuel industry would play an essential role in addressing the climate crisis.
Climate activists have criticised the appointment of Jaber to lead the COP28 talks which take place in Dubai from November 30-December 12.
But Jaber has garnered the support of COP parties including US climate envoy John Kerry, partly by emphasizing his belief that “the phase-down of fossil fuels is inevitable” — a message he repeated on Monday.
At the same time top oil executives and officials from major oil-producing countries have advocated ramped-up investment to meet demand and stave off energy shortages.
Investment
Haitham Al-Ghais, secretary general of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), told the conference that calls to cease fossil fuel investments were dangerous.
“We see calls to stop investing in oil. We believe this is counterproductive,” he said.
“This puts countries… from Europe and many other parts of the world at risk, because the cornerstone of global economic prosperity today is energy security.”
Instead, he called for investments of $600 billion per year between now and 2045 “just for the oil industry.”
He added: “This is what it requires to be able to achieve energy security for Europe, for the rest of the world.”
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