Greta Thunberg on Abu Dhabi's oil chief leading COP28 climate summit: 'Completely ridiculous' - CNBC

Swedish clime activistic Greta Thunberg connected Thursday became the latest vocal professional of the United Arab Emirates' determination to sanction the caput of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) arsenic president of this year's COP28 clime summit.

Asked her presumption connected the assignment during a sheet astatine the World Economic Forum successful Davos, she said, "Lobbyists person been influencing these conferences since forever, and this conscionable puts a precise wide look to it... it's wholly ridiculous."

The presidency has sparked a torrent of criticism from clime activists and civilian nine organizations since its mid-January announcement. The UAE, 1 of the world's apical lipid producers, volition big the U.N.-led clime acme from Nov. 30 to Dec. 12, 2023.

Adnoc main enforcement Sultan al-Jaber has spoken astir the request for clime action, saying during a Jan. 14 league that the UAE has "a wide consciousness of work and a large consciousness of urgency" successful that direction.

"We don't request to hold for the planetary stocktake to cognize what it volition say. We are mode disconnected track," helium said astatine the time. "The satellite is playing catch-up erstwhile it comes to the cardinal Paris extremity of holding planetary temperatures down to 1.5 degrees. And the hard world is that, successful bid to execute this goal, planetary emissions indispensable autumn 43% by 2030."

Many critics are calling on the lipid chief to step down from Adnoc leadership, saying it represents a wide struggle of involvement with his COP28 position.

Earlier during the Davos sheet connected Thursday, Thunberg said it was an "absurd" concern that the satellite appears to beryllium listening to Davos delegates alternatively than to those connected the frontlines of the clime crisis.

The U.N. Intergovernmental Panel connected Climate Change has warned that fossil substance emissions indispensable halve wrong the adjacent decade, if planetary warming is to beryllium contained to 1.5 degrees Celsius supra pre-industrial levels. According to the panel, astir 90% of planetary CO2 emissions travel from fossil fuels and the dense industry.

In October, a probe squad led by Oregon State University reported that respective of the planet's captious signs person reached "code red" and that "humanity is unequivocally facing a clime emergency." Their study recovered that, successful 2022, c dioxide contented successful the ambiance reached a level that has not been seen successful millions of years.

— CNBC's Sam Meredith contributed to this report.