COP28 leader denies report alleging UAE wanted to seek oil deals in summit – By Jon Gambrell & Malak Harb (PBS Newshour) / Nov 29, 2023
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The Emirati president-designate for the upcoming United Nations COP28 climate talks forcefully denied Wednesday a report alleging his nation planned to use the summit to strike oil and gas deals.
Sultan al-Jaber, who also leads the massive state-run Abu Dhabi National Oil Co., called the allegations from a BBC report “an attempt to undermine the work of the COP28 presidency” before the talks were set to begin on Thursday. The report cited what it described as “leaked briefing documents” the broadcaster said showed the Emirates planned to discuss oil, gas and renewable energy deals with several nations.
“These allegations are false, not true, incorrect and not accurate,” al-Jaber told a small group of journalists gathered for a news conference that also was aired live. “I promise you never ever did I see these talking points that they refer to or that I ever even used such talking points in my discussions.”
