- The UAE presidency is using the COP28 meeting to secure new oil and gas deals.
- Hilda Heine stated that these actions undermine the integrity of the COP presidency and the process as a whole.
A member of the main advisory board of the COP28 climate summit resigned today over reports that the UAE presidency used the meeting to secure new oil and gas deals. According to her resignation letter, Hilda Heine, former president of the low-lying, climate-vulnerable Marshall Islands, said reports that the UAE planned to discuss possible natural gas and other commercial deals ahead of United Nations climate talks were “deeply disappointing” and threatened to undermine the credibility of the multilateral negotiation process.
Heine wrote in her letter to COP President Sultan al-Jaber, “These actions undermine the integrity of the COP presidency and the process as a whole.” She added that the only way for Jaber to restore trust in the process was to deliver an outcome demonstrating his commitment to phasing out fossil fuels.