Cop28 climate summit compromised by reports that UAE used pre-event talks to negotiate oil deals – Mary Robinson

The Emirati Minister of State and leader of UAE's Cop28 talk, Sultan Ahmed al-Jaber.

Mary Robinson has said the Cop28 climate summit is compromised following reports its hosts have used pre-summit talks to negotiate oil deals with attending countries.

The former president of Ireland and climate campaigner was responding to an investigation by the BBC and the Centre for Climate Reporting into the behaviour of the United Arab Emirates which holds the presidency of the summit that begins in Dubai later this week.

The report found the presidency team involved UAE’s national oil company Adnoc in its pre-Cop discussions with 15 countries, proposing deals or talks around deals to supply oil and gas.

Mrs Robinson said the revelations were worrying.

“It’s very worrying because perceptions matter and there was already a perception that the presidency was a bit compromised and this may make the situation even more difficult,” she said.

“It’s not right that a president of the Cop would use the office to negotiate private deals. If that’s happened, it’s not correct and it’s not appropriate”.

However, she said the scandal could not be allowed to derail the talks which will attempt to get agreement between 197 countries on goals for cutting carbon emissions and phasing out fossil fuels.

“We have no time for a bad Cop. We have to have as much progress at this Cop as possible because we’re running out of time,” she said.

“We need to focus on what has to happen. We know that we are not at all where we need to be.”

This year’s summit will be a high-profile event where countries will complete a ‘global stocktake’ designed to pinpoint just how far away the world is from getting emissions, temperature rise and climate change under control.

Current tallies point to emissions growing by a further 9pc by 2030 instead of falling by 45pc as was the intention set out in earlier Cops.

Mrs Robinson said it was crucial that the focus remain on these challenges.

“We have seen not just extremes [of weather] but scientists are bowled over by how bad it is,” she said.

She said previous Cops had begun with little optimism that progress would be achieved but had gone on to exceed expectations.

“Perhaps out of this revelation [the BBC report] there will be a call for a much more progressive Cop,” she said.

“We need to get pressure for phasing out fossil fuel.

“We can do that with a compromised presidency.”

Mrs Robinson was speaking ahead of an address to the Sustainable Futures Forum event at University College Cork.

She acknowledged that the ongoing events in Gaza could also be a distraction from the work of the summit.

She said however while she understood that people were passionate about the issue, it was essential to remain focused on the critical work in hand.

“It is not morally indefensible to stay strategic,” she said.

Mrs Robinson will attend Cop as chair of The Elders, a grouping of former world leaders involved in human rights and environmental campaigning.