As the UAE prepares to host Cop28 this year, some in the West are calling the decision to select a major oil and gas producer to hold the UN climate conference controversial. This attitude stems from a narrow western mindset that is increasingly alienating many in the developing world whose buy-in will be critical towards tackling this global challenge.
What amounts to virtue-signalling from some quarters in Europe and the US puts at risk the entire Cop process. After all, the two most recent meetings, Cop26 and Cop27, were held in Scotland and Egypt – both major oil and gas producers – yet they faced little blowback for it. This underscores a double standard to start with.
Also, at Cop26, the oil, gas, nuclear and coal industries, which together produce 90 per cent of global energy, were de-platformed and not even allowed to be part of the conversation, due to a certain agenda that took over the then Cop office. This undermined the entire meeting and impeded its success.
What amounts to virtue-signalling from some quarters in Europe and the US puts at risk the entire Cop process
We also saw finger-wagging during recent Cop meetings at developing countries such as India and others, who have been waiting for the $100 billion in climate finance that was promised to them in Paris, but which has yet to materialise. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has since pushed back, stating that now $1 trillion would be needed. And so, the language changed last year in Sharm El Sheikh. The nations representing 7 billion people across the developing world are no longer talking about just the $100 billion. They are now talking in terms of loss and damage – demanding reparations for the climate change caused primarily by emissions from wealthier nations, and for which they, as developing countries, must now suffer the most.
These developing countries are rightly and understandably asking the industrialised western governments: how can you, who colonised large parts of Asia and Africa, and used our resources to fuel your industrial development, now somehow be lecturing us that we shouldn't have stable power while you enjoy it?
And at the first sign of an energy crisis last year, several European nations turned their coal plants back on, despite advocating against the use of this fuel in recent Cop meetings. And practically all European countries, including the UK, are now subsidising energy consumption even as they spent years lecturing developing countries to avoid doing so, masking this policy with labels such as “energy support” and “price caps” when it is of course a clear energy consumption subsidy.
And many of these same countries are now also approaching African countries, such as Mozambique and Tanzania, desperately seeking the natural gas they had previously refused to import for domestic consumption in the name of climate policy – as long as it now goes to Europe as liquified natural gas, to secure Europe’s own electricity supply.
Such hypocrisy is grating on developing countries who see climate policies being used to stunt their own growth and development – and is, therefore, putting at risk the progress of the entire Cop process to reduce global emissions as a common co-operative challenge. It also leads us to why the UAE is the perfect place to host Cop28 and bridge this growing North-South divide.
First, the UAE is a big investor in all forms of energy, including renewables. Masdar, one of the world’s largest investors in clean energy and active in more than 40 countries around the globe, was established in Abu Dhabi in 2006 – well before most other countries made major commitments in this space. And Dr Sultan Al Jaber, the Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and Cop28 President-designate, was Masdar’s founding chief executive and continues to serve as its chairman. It is a role he assumed well before his current position at Adnoc. Moreover, countries such as the UAE and Saudi Arabia will lead the scaling up of hydrogen because they have the resources, both in terms of finance and in natural gas and low-cost solar energy supply, to be able to advance these technologies of the future.
The UAE’s other advantage is its geography. Being centrally located and equipped with superior logistics and travel links to the world, it is the best place to bring together north, south, east and west – which is necessary for a genuine dialogue. Also worth pointing out are the unique relationships the UAE has developed with a number of Asian and African countries. This is important because, ultimately, the climate fight will be won or lost in these countries, since they will account for almost all of the global growth in carbon emissions going forward.
Cop28 will be held at the same venue that hosted Dubai Expo 2020, which became the first world fair to pay for the so-called “least developed countries” to have their own pavilions. In other words, it represents an inclusive venue where all the countries’ views will be welcomed and respected. For all these reasons, Cop28 is going to be an inclusive and successful Cop, with the UAE proving the ideal host – regardless of the conversations being had in Europe.
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
HOW TO WATCH
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Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
How to donate
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FINAL RECKONING
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Starring: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg
Rating: 4/5
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Tottenham 0-1 Ajax, Tuesday
Second leg
Ajax v Tottenham, Wednesday, May 8, 11pm
Game is on BeIN Sports
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UAE cricketers abroad
Sid Jhurani is not the first cricketer from the UAE to go to the UK to try his luck.
Rameez Shahzad Played alongside Ben Stokes and Liam Plunkett in Durham while he was studying there. He also played club cricket as an overseas professional, but his time in the UK stunted his UAE career. The batsman went a decade without playing for the national team.
Yodhin Punja The seam bowler was named in the UAE’s extended World Cup squad in 2015 despite being just 15 at the time. He made his senior UAE debut aged 16, and subsequently took up a scholarship at Claremont High School in the south of England.
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Match info
Liverpool 3
Hoedt (10' og), Matip (21'), Salah (45 3')
Southampton 0
UAE finals day
Friday, April 13
Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City
3pm, UAE Conference: Dubai Tigers v Sharjah Wanderers
6.30pm, UAE Premiership: Dubai Exiles v Abu Dhabi Harlequins
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
Brief scores:
Everton 2
Walcott 21', Sigurdsson 51'
Tottenham 6
Son 27', 61', Alli 35', Kane 42', 74', Eriksen 48'
Man of the Match: Son Heung-min (Tottenham Hotspur)
'HIJRAH%3A%20IN%20THE%20FOOTSTEPS%20OF%20THE%20PROPHET'
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Who has been sanctioned?
Daniella Weiss and Nachala
Described as 'the grandmother of the settler movement', she has encouraged the expansion of settlements for decades. The 79 year old leads radical settler movement Nachala, whose aim is for Israel to annex Gaza and the occupied West Bank, where it helps settlers built outposts.
Harel Libi & Libi Construction and Infrastructure
Libi has been involved in threatening and perpetuating acts of aggression and violence against Palestinians. His firm has provided logistical and financial support for the establishment of illegal outposts.
Zohar Sabah
Runs a settler outpost named Zohar’s Farm and has previously faced charges of violence against Palestinians. He was indicted by Israel’s State Attorney’s Office in September for allegedly participating in a violent attack against Palestinians and activists in the West Bank village of Muarrajat.
Coco’s Farm and Neria’s Farm
These are illegal outposts in the West Bank, which are at the vanguard of the settler movement. According to the UK, they are associated with people who have been involved in enabling, inciting, promoting or providing support for activities that amount to “serious abuse”.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
RESULT
Arsenal 1 Chelsea 2
Arsenal: Aubameyang (13')
Chelsea: Jorginho (83'), Abraham (87')
Venom
Director: Ruben Fleischer
Cast: Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, Riz Ahmed
Rating: 1.5/5
RESULTS
5pm: Wathba Stallions Cup – Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (Dirt) 1,400m
Winner: Yas Xmnsor, Sean Kirrane (jockey), Khalifa Al Neyadi (trainer)
5.30pm: Falaj Hazza – Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner: Arim W’Rsan, Dane O’Neill, Jaci Wickham
6pm: Al Basrah – Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,800m
Winner: Kalifano De Ghazal, Abdul Aziz Al Balushi, Helal Al Alawi
6.30pm: Oud Al Touba – Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,800m
Winner: Pharitz Oubai, Sean Kirrane, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami
7pm: Sieh bin Amaar – Conditions (PA) Dh80,000 (D) 1,800m
Winner: Oxord, Richard Mullen, Abdalla Al Hammadi
7.30pm: Jebel Hafeet – Conditions (PA) Dh85,000 (D) 2,000m
Winner: AF Ramz, Sean Kirrane, Khalifa Al Neyadi
8pm: Al Saad – Handicap (TB) Dh70,000 (D) 2,000m
Winner: Sea Skimmer, Gabriele Malune, Kareem Ramadan
