Oil wealth + green image = not mixing for UAE

Your guide to the political forces shaping the energy transformation

Jun 07, 2023 View in browser   By Arianna Skibell Sultan al-Jaber, the CEO of Abu Dhabi National Oil, talks during the World Government Summit in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. | Kamran Jebreili/AP Photo Sometimes money can’t buy it all. Millions of dollars spent in a yearslong public relations campaign, and one of the world’s wealthiest oil states is no closer to cleaning up its image before it hosts the United Nations’ next climate talks, write Corbin Hiar and Zack Colman. Corbin and Zack dug into federal disclosure filings and found that over the last few years, the United Arab Emirates inked five climate-focused advocacy deals. The aim: to convince the world that the UAE’s plan to expand oil and gas drilling is compatible with international efforts to ease off burning fossil fuels — the leading cause of climate change. No other host nation has invested as much time and money to shape its image ahead of the annual climate negotiations, Corbin and Zack found. But the UAE’s hiring of strategic communications firms and veteran PR executives — in deals that sometimes ended abruptly — hasn’t brought it widespread acclaim. Instead, the Persian Gulf state is facing criticism from lawmakers and environmentalists in the United States and Europe, who question whether November’s global climate talks will be less productive when led by a nation whose economy largely depends on oil production. Critics are particularly concerned about Sultan Ahmed al-Jaber’s role as president of the summit, known as COP28. The CEO of the UAE’s state-owned oil company will take a lead role in crafting the summit’s initial negotiating text and will steward any final deals with top diplomats. A spokesperson for al-Jaber, who is also the country’s climate envoy, rejected attacks on the government’s commitment to climate action. “As a nation with scarce water and food resources, in one of the hottest places on the planet, the UAE is deeply committed to the urgency of the climate crisis,” the spokesperson said. The UAE has committed to reaching net-zero emissions by midcentury and investing $20 billion into clean energy projects by 2035. But it’s also pouring more than $100 billion into increasing its oil production by almost 1 million barrels per day over the next four years. “To have the COP be basically run by the fossil fuel industry sets the bar very, very high for accomplishments,” Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) said for the story. “The people running the UAE COP need to do something to show that this is going to be different.”   It's Wednesday — thank you for tuning in to POLITICO's Power Switch. I'm your host, Arianna Skibell. Power Switch is brought to you by the journalists behind E&E News and POLITICO Energy. Send your tips, comments, questions to askibell@eenews.net.   LISTEN TO POLITICO'S ENERGY PODCAST: Check out our daily five-minute brief on the latest energy and environmental politics and policy news. Don't miss out on the must-know stories, candid insights, and analysis from POLITICO's energy team. Listen today.     Listen to today’s POLITICO Energy podcast Today in POLITICO Energy’s podcast: Joanne Kenen breaks down the movement to green the health care system, which is responsible for 8.5 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Power Centers Haze blankets the monuments on the National Mall in Washington on Wednesday, as seen from Arlington, Va. | Julio Cortez/AP Photo Canadian wildfires pollute U.S. air Smoke wafting downwind from more than 150 wildfires burning in Quebec Province, Canada, covered vast swaths of the United States on Wednesday, writes Sean Reilly. It turned skies milky white, ushered schoolchildren indoors, put hospitals on alert and peaked air pollution far beyond federal health standards. And there’s little the government can do about it. Coal's last gasp While a new Biden administration climate proposal could shutter scores of coal-fired power plants, some legacy coal states are passing laws to make it harder for state regulators to approve plant retirements, writes Jason Plautz. But legal experts doubt whether the laws will make a difference in EPA's work to clean up the power sector, the second-largest source of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Nord Stream attack President Volodymyr Zelenskyy denied that Ukraine was involved in sabotaging the Nord Stream natural gas pipelines, which run under the Baltic sea from Russia to Germany and exploded last year, write Paul Ronzheimer, Gabriel Gavin and Victor Jack. Zelenskyy's comments come after The Washington Post reported Tuesday that the U.S. had intelligence of a detailed Ukrainian plan to attack the Nord Stream pipelines before it happened. In Other News Human rights abuses: A new report ties the mining of minerals needed for electric vehicles and batteries to hundreds of alleged human rights abuses, and it faults the U.S. and other countries for failing to enact fair labor standards. Environmental (in)justice: A report found that 2.3 billion people around the world cook with high-polluting fuels, while 675 million lack electricity.   GET READY FOR GLOBAL TECH DAY: Join POLITICO Live as we launch our first Global Tech Day alongside London Tech Week on Thursday, June 15. Register now for continuing updates and to be a part of this momentous and program-packed day! From the blockchain, to AI, and autonomous vehicles, technology is changing how power is exercised around the world, so who will write the rules? REGISTER HERE.     Subscriber Zone A showcase of some of our best subscriber content. North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (center) speaks with Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards (left) before the start of a February meeting between President Joe Biden and U.S. governors. | Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images Republican North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum — who likes carbon capture and environmental, social and governance investing — will launch a long-shot presidential bid. Sens. Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) introduced a bill that would penalize imports of high-polluting goods, a rare bipartisan climate effort in Congress. The Biden administration revoked a key permit for a copper and nickel mine in Minnesota after finding that the project didn't comply with a downstream tribe's water quality standards. That's it for today, folks! Thanks for reading.   Follow us on Twitter Arianna Skibell @ariannaskibell   Follow us

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