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ABU DHABI, UAE: The fight against global warming should not come at the price of economic progress, according to the UAE oil minister, who will chair this year's UN climate talks.
Sultan Al Jaber, the United Arab Emirates' (UAE) special envoy for climate change and CEO of oil giant ADNOC, said the energy shift needs to make the earth "wealthier and healthier".
"We need to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius while maintaining economic growth," he said at a graduation ceremony at the Mohamed Bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence.
"We must pursue an inclusive energy transformation that does not leave anybody behind, particularly in the Global South. We must make our world richer while also making it healthy."
Activists have criticised Al Jaber's selection as president of COP28 in November and December, saying it jeopardises the global forum's "legitimacy" in combating climate change.
The minister of industry and advanced technologies has attended several COP meetings and is the CEO of a major renewable energy firm. US climate envoy John Kerry praised his nomination.
The most recent UN climate negotiations, held in Egypt in November, concluded with a historic agreement to establish a "loss and damage" fund to compensate the expenses incurred by developing nations as a result of climate-related natural catastrophes and delayed effects such as sea level rise.
However, observers were unhappy that little progress had been made in lowering greenhouse-gas emissions from fossil fuels.
The UAE, one of the world's largest oil producers, claims that crude oil is still essential to the global economy and is required to fund the energy transition.
The Gulf monarchy is promoting the benefits of carbon capture, which involves extracting carbon dioxide from the atmosphere or as fuel is used.
It is also spending billions of dollars to generate enough renewable energy to meet half of its demands by 2050, with the goal of reaching net-zero domestic carbon emissions by that year – excluding pollution from the oil it exports.
Earlier this month, the United Nations climate director Simon Stiell told AFP that COP28 arrives at a "pivotal time" but that Al Jaber had indicated "an willingness to making this a transformative COP".
He noted that the UAE's hosting of the COP is also an occasion to pose "tough questions" regarding climate change and the hydrocarbons business.
