Concerns as UAE state oil firm staff take up official roles for Cop28

At least a dozen employees from the United Arab Emirate s’ state-owned oil company have apparently taken up roles with the office of the UAE’s climate change special envoy, who will host this year’s Cop28 UN climate summit.

- Ben Stockton, Lawrence Carter

The revelation adds to growing concerns over the potential for blurred lines between the team hosting this year’s crucial summit and the oil-rich country’s influential fossil fuel industry.

The officials were apparently working in the UAE’s oil and gas industry immediately before taking up roles in the Cop28 team, according to an analysis of LinkedIn accounts by the independent investigative group Centre for Climate Reporting (CCR), seen by the Guardian.

Among the officials are two former Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) engineers who will act as negotiators on behalf of the UAE at the conference, despite their LinkedIn profiles suggesting they may not have a background in international climate diplomacy.

Two of the employees have been seconded from their roles at Adnoc, according to LinkedIn accounts reviewed by CCR. Meanwhile, senior executives at the oil company have been “tasked with supporting” the UAE’s role as hosts of this year’s conference.