Amid preparations for the forthcoming United Nations climate summit later this year, leaked internal documents have unveiled a significant development: senior executives from the UAE's national oil company are deeply involved with the COP28 team. This revelation sheds light on the country's escalating public relations campaign as it gears up for the major climate summit.

According to a communication strategy document obtained by the Centre for Climate Reporting (CCR) and The Guardian, two public relations professionals affiliated with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) have been identified as providing "additional support" to the team overseeing the COP28 summit. This revelation adds to a growing body of evidence highlighting the interconnectedness between the UAE's COP28 team and its fossil fuel industry.

Earlier in January, Sultan Al Jaber was appointed as the President of COP28, with Dubai set to host the summit in November and December. Subsequently, concerns have been raised in multiple reports regarding the perceived overlap between his roles as the head of Adnoc and the UAE's climate change special envoy. The COP28 team had previously asserted that "clear governance guidelines" were in place to ensure the team’s complete autonomy from any other entity.

These recent developments underscore the ongoing scrutiny and questions surrounding the independence and transparency of the COP28 team, particularly concerning its relationships with influential figures from the fossil fuel industry.

The revelation has drawn strong criticism from Pascoe Sabido, a researcher affiliated with Corporate Observatory Europe and a co-coordinator of the Kick Big Polluters Out coalition. Sabido has unequivocally deemed it "wholly inappropriate" for Adnoc staff to be actively engaged in public relations efforts for COP28. He asserts that these findings glaringly underscore the close and concerning connections between the oil company and the team responsible for the summit.

This development follows earlier disclosures made by CCR and The Guardian earlier this year, where it was revealed that several members of Adnoc staff had assumed pivotal roles at the climate summit, including positions as climate negotiators. In some instances, individuals were seconded from their ongoing roles within the oil company to work directly on summit-related responsibilities, raising further questions about potential conflicts of interest.

In June, The Guardian reported that Adnoc and COP28 shared an IT system, and Adnoc staff could access emails sent to and from the COP28 team. Adnoc was also consulted on handling a media inquiry about the summit. At the time, COP28 claimed the emails were on a separate, protected network.

The two Adnoc communication executives named in the leaked document, Philip Robinson and Paloma Berenguer, have a total of 28 years of experience in the fossil fuel industry, having previously worked at Shell before joining Adnoc.

A COP28 spokesperson clarified that these executives did not travel with the team to the UN General Assembly in New York this week and were not involved in any communications activities there.

“The COP28 team regularly receives queries not related to COP28 that it directs to the appropriate UAE entities to answer,” the spokesperson continued.

The document outlines COP28's PR strategy and key points for Al Jaber and senior team members at the UN General Assembly. The UN meeting is seen as pivotal in setting the climate agenda for COP28 and shaping its narrative. Al Jaber stated at the UN that a "phase down" of fossil fuels is inevitable and vital, but he did not explicitly call for a complete phase-out, a stance UN Secretary-General António Guterres deems necessary to combat global warming.

“Actions are falling abysmally short,” Guterres said. “To stand a fighting chance of limiting global temperature rise, we must phase out oil, coal, and gas in a fair and equitable way.”

The leaked communications plan does not mention phasing down or phasing out fossil fuels. It emphasizes fast-tracking the energy transition through renewable energy expansion, emission reduction from polluting industries, and green investment finance. Meanwhile, as Adnoc's CEO, Al Jaber is overseeing a significant expansion of the company's oil and gas production.

“The COP28 presidency has consistently stated that the phase-down of fossil fuels is inevitable, as part of a just and orderly energy transition and it must go hand-in-hand with a rapid phase-up of zero-carbon alternatives,” a COP28 spokesperson said. “This position was reiterated on the floor of the United Nations.”

Image source: The Guardian