On Sunday, the president of the upcoming UN climate meeting, COP28, called on governments to let go of the ”fantasy” of rapidly transitioning away from the current energy infrastructure to meet climate goals.

What he referred to was oil and its continued role.

”We cannot unplug the energy system of today before we build the new system of tomorrow,” said Sultan al Jaber.

The words came at a UN conference for Middle Eastern countries on climate and the future of energy. The meeting took place on Sunday in Saudi Arabia.

”We must separate facts from fiction, reality from fantasies, impact from ideology,” said Jaber.

Climate activists have criticized the UAE government for appointing Jaber to head the COP28 summit. It begins at the end of November in Dubai.

They are highly critical that a country like the UAE, which is so dependent on its oil exports, should lead the important meeting.

Jaber is the head of the state-owned oil company ADNOC in the UAE.

He has received enough support from governments to take the position as president of the climate summit. Including from US Special Climate Envoy John Kerry, after Jaber stated that ”the phase-down of fossil fuels is inevitable.”

(Translated using DeepL with additional editing by Kristoffer Grønbæk)