COP28: OPEC will have pavilion at the climate summit for the first time – 10/11/2023 – Environment

This year’s international meeting to tackle the climate crisis will, for the first time, feature an important presence from an organization that predicts an increase in demand for oil by the middle of the century.

OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) will have a pavilion at COP28, the United Nations’ main climate event, which will be held at the end of November in Dubai, according to Secretary-General Haitham Al-Ghais.

“The oil industry will be present at the COP and we will be there,” he said at a Gulf Intelligence forum in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, on Tuesday (10). “I hope all voices are at the table at COP28.”

There was widespread criticism of the oil industry’s presence at COP28 and the UAE’s decision to appoint Sultan al-Jaber, head of Adnoc (Abu Dhabi National Oil Company), as chair of the climate summit. Adnoc is working on expanding crude oil production capacity in the United Arab Emirates, OPEC’s third-largest producer.

Oil consumption will increase by 16% over the next two decades, reaching 116 million barrels per day in 2045, about 6 million more per day than previously forecast, OPEC said in its World Petroleum Outlook Report.

OPEC has raised its forecasts for global oil demand through mid-century, even as the world must move away from fossil fuels to avoid catastrophic climate change.

Al-Ghais’ comments were echoed by officials from OPEC member states, as well as the chief executives of the world’s leading energy companies, who expressed their support for the UAE in holding the climate summit.

At the Adipec oil and gas exhibition and conference in Abu Dhabi earlier this month, senior executives, including representatives from Halliburton, Exxon Mobil and BP Plc, said they were pleased to have their voices heard at this year’s COP and that the oil industry it is an integral part of the energy transition.