Host of Cop28 climate summit fails to report methane level to UN for decade

The United Arab Emirates, which will run the crucial Cop28 UN climate summit in December, has failed to report its emissions of the powerful greenhouse gas methane to the UN for almost a decade, the Guardian can reveal.

- Damian Carrington

Its state oil company, Adnoc, whose chief executive, Sultan Al Jaber, controversially will preside over the climate summit, has set itself a methane leak target far higher than the level it claims it has reached.

Al Jaber recently urged countries and companies to be "brutally honest" about the inadequacy of global action to fight the climate crisis.

Al Jaber is tasked with leading countries at Cop28 to deliver the climate action desperately needed as extreme weather damages lives across the world. He has previously been backed by the US and EU but has also faced calls to step down.

Critics say that the revelations, and the UAE's plan for a huge expansion of oil and gas production against scientific advice, show the "opposite of leadership" and undermine Al Jaber's credibility.

Methane is responsible for about a quarter of global heating, and leaks from fossil fuel exploitation are a significant source. Cutting these emissions is a fast, low-cost, way to slow the global temperature rise.

The United Nations' climate body has required countries to submit their methane emissions every two years since 2014. The UAE has not submitted any reports, unlike other Middle Eastern oil states, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Oman.