Showing posts with label United Nations. Show all posts
Showing posts with label United Nations. Show all posts

Monday 26 February 2024

A little bit about the second set of International Court of Justice hearings in 2024 concerning 'The Question of Palestine'


Because The Question of Palestine, the nature of political and diplomatic processes undertaken to resolve this 76 year-old question — in order that Palestine is recognised under international law as a sovereign state whose citizens enjoy the full range of humanitarian and political rights and protections — will in large measure define the status and gravitas accorded to the United Nations going forward by nation states as the world moves further into an epoch of climatic, geo-political and social disruption, it does no harm to be watchful as events unfold. 

Additionally, mainstream media coverage has been rather limited in Australia concerning legal deliberations relating to Palestine since the International Court of Justice Order of 26 January 2024 and the Australian Government has been noticeable by its silence on the most recent hearings.

So here is a basic record of what occurred after the United Nation General Assembly's 12 page Request for an Advisory Opinion pursuant to General Assembly resolution 77/247 of 30 December 2022, with regard to Legal Consequences Arising From The Policies And Practices Of Israel In The Occupied Palestinian Territory, Including East Jerusalem, began six days of public hearings on Monday 19 February 2024, at 10 a.m. at the Peace Palace, with President Salam presiding.

The Court was asked to render an opinion on the following basis:

considering the rules and principles of international law, including the Charter of the United Nations, international humanitarian law, international human rights law, relevant resolutions of the Security Council, the General Assembly and the Human Rights Council, and the advisory opinion of the Court of 9 July 2004:

(a) What are the legal consequences arising from the ongoing violation by Israel of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, from its prolonged occupation, settlement and annexation of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem, and from its adoption of related discriminatory legislation and measures?

(b) How do the policies and practices of Israel referred to in paragraph 18 (a) above affect the legal status of the occupation, and what are the legal consequences that arise for all States and the United Nations from this status?” 


The public hearings......


DAY ONE

The State of #Palestine opens the public hearings in the advisory proceedings on the Legal Consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, before the #ICJ

 https://cdnapisec.kaltura.com/index.php/extwidget/preview/partner_id/2503451/uiconf_id/43914941/entry_id/1_q64rcbqd/embed/dynamic


DAY TWO

The #Netherlands#Bangladesh and #Belgium present their oral statements in the advisory proceedings on the Legal Consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem

https://cdnapisec.kaltura.com/index.php/extwidget/preview/partner_id/2503451/uiconf_id/43914941/entry_id/1_4366a9cv/embed/dynamic


#Belize#Bolivia #Brazil and #Chile present their oral statements in the advisory proceedings on the Legal Consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem

https://cdnapisec.kaltura.com/index.php/extwidget/preview/partner_id/2503451/uiconf_id/43914941/entry_id/1_2ya4lbdu/embed/dynamic

 

DAY THREE

#Colombia#Cuba#Egyptthe #UAE and #USA present their oral statements in the advisory proceedings on the Legal Consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem 

https://cdnapisec.kaltura.com/index.php/extwidget/preview/partner_id/2503451/uiconf_id/43914941/entry_id/1_79dssjrs/embed/dynamic


 #Russia#France#TheGambia#Guyana and #Hungary present their oral statements in the advisory proceedings on the Legal Consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem

https://cdnapisec.kaltura.com/index.php/extwidget/preview/partner_id/2503451/uiconf_id/43914941/entry_id/1_ryz6ss88/embed/dynamic


DAY FOUR

#China#Iran#Iraq#Ireland#Japan and #Jordan present their oral statements in the advisory proceedings on the Legal Consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem

https://cdnapisec.kaltura.com/index.php/extwidget/preview/partner_id/2503451/uiconf_id/43914941/entry_id/1_b46jqhoc/embed/dynamic


#Kuwait#Lebanon#Libya #Luxembourg#Malaysia and #Mauritius present their oral statements in the advisory proceedings on the Legal Consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem

https://cdnapisec.kaltura.com/index.php/extwidget/preview/partner_id/2503451/uiconf_id/43914941/entry_id/1_8wd5swem/embed/dynamic


 DAY FIVE

#Namibia#Norway#Oman#Pakistan#Indonesia and #Qatar present their oral statements in the advisory proceedings on the Legal Consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem

https://cdnapisec.kaltura.com/index.php/extwidget/preview/partner_id/2503451/uiconf_id/43914941/entry_id/1_1m0ok1bf/embed/dynamic


#UnitedKingdom#Slovenia#Sudan#Switzerland#Syria and #Tunisia present their oral statements in the advisory proceedings on the Legal Consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem

https://cdnapisec.kaltura.com/index.php/extwidget/preview/partner_id/2503451/uiconf_id/43914941/entry_id/1_vx79z7wp/embed/dynamic


DAY SIX

#Türkiye, #Zambia, #League of Arab States, #Organisation for Islamic Cooperation and #Africa Union present their oral statements in the advisory proceedings on the Legal Consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem

https://cdnapisec.kaltura.com/index.php/extwidget/preview/partner_id/2503451/uiconf_id/43914941/entry_id/1_vew5z58l/embed/dynamic


NOTE: Verbatim records of all oral proceedings can be found at: https://www.icj-cij.org/case/186/oral-proceedings


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Earlier, on 16 February 2024 in the matter of the Republic of South Africa v The State of Israel the International Court of Justice issued this media release in response to the situation in Rafah in the far south of the Gaza Strip near the border with Egypt:


Sunday 24 December 2023

As 2023 draws to a close U.N. member states are increasingly frustrated and horrified by Israel's continuation of the war on Gaza

 

IMAGE: AlJazeera, 22 December 2023










On Friday 22 December 2023 the fifteen nation members of the U.N. Security Council voted 13 to 0 - with Russia and the United States of America abstaining from the vote - to adopt the following resolution demanding that all parties comply with their obligations under international law, notably with regard to the protection of civilians, calling for urgent and extended humanitarian pauses and corridors throughout the Gaza Strip for a sufficient number of days to enable full, rapid, safe, and unhindered humanitarian access and to enable urgent rescue and recovery efforts, also calling for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, as well as ensuring immediate humanitarian access.


The resolution also reconfirmed support for the right to sovereignty and self-determination of the Palestinian people and, for the 'two state solution'


NOTE: Although not a current member of the Security Council, Australia had shown its support for a humanitarian pause in Israels war on Gaza as a step towards a permanent ceasefire by voting for Resolution A/ES-10/l.27 (adopted 153 votes to 10) in the U.N. General Assembly on 12 December 2023.



Security Council resolution 2720 (2023)


The Security Council,


Reaffirming the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations,


Recalling all of its relevant resolutions, particularly resolution 2712 (2023), which, inter alia, demands that all parties comply with their obligations under international law, notably with regard to the protection of civilians, calls for urgent and extended humanitarian pauses and corridors throughout the Gaza Strip for a sufficient number of days to enable full, rapid, safe, and unhindered humanitarian access and to enable urgent rescue and recovery efforts, and calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, as well as ensuring immediate humanitarian access,


Reaffirming that all parties to conflicts must adhere to their obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law and international human rights law, as applicable,


Stressing that the Gaza Strip constitutes an integral part of the territory occupied in 1967, and reiterating the vision of the two-State solution, with the Gaza Strip as part of the Palestinian State,


Expressing deep concern at the dire and rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and its grave impact on the civilian population, underlining the urgent need for full, rapid, safe, and unhindered humanitarian access into and throughout the entire Gaza Strip, and taking note of the concerning reports from the leadership of the United Nations and humanitarian organizations in this regard, reaffirming its strong concern for the disproportionate effect that the conflict is having on the lives and well-being of children, women, and other civilians in vulnerable situations, and stressing the humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality, and independence,


Stressing the obligation to respect and protect humanitarian relief and medical personnel,


Reaffirming its call for all parties to refrain from depriving the civilian population in the Gaza Strip of basic services and humanitarian assistance indispensable to their survival, consistent with international humanitarian law,


Commending the indispensable and ongoing efforts of the United Nations, its specialized agencies and all humanitarian and medical personnel in the Gaza Strip to alleviate the impact of the conflict on the people in the Gaza Strip, and expressing condolences for all civilians, including humanitarian and medical personnel, killed in the course of this conflict,


Welcoming the efforts of Egypt to facilitate the use of the Rafah Border crossing by United Nations humanitarian agencies and their implementing partners for the provision of humanitarian assistance for people in need throughout the Gaza Strip,


Taking note of the 15 December 2023 decision by the Government of Israel to open its crossing at Karem Abu Salem / Kerem Shalom for direct delivery of humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians in Gaza, which should ease congestion and help facilitate the provision of life-saving assistance to those who urgently need it, and emphasizing the need to continue working closely with all relevant parties to expand the delivery and distribution of humanitarian assistance, while confirming its humanitarian nature and ensuring that it reaches its civilian destination,


Encouraging engagement with relevant states in the implementation of this resolution,


Welcoming the implementation of a recent ‘humanitarian pause’ in the Gaza Strip, and expressing appreciation for the diplomatic efforts of Egypt, the State of Qatar, and other states in this regard, and also expressing grave concerns as to the impact the resumption of hostilities has had on civilians,


Recognizing that the civilian population in the Gaza Strip must have access to sufficient quantities of assistance that they need, including enough food, water, sanitation, electricity, telecommunications and medical services essential for their survival, and that the provision of humanitarian supplies in the Gaza Strip needs to be sufficient to alleviate the massive humanitarian needs of the Palestinian civilian population throughout the Gaza Strip, and recognizing the importance of resuming commercial imports of essential goods and services into the Gaza Strip,


Welcoming financial contributions and pledges by member states in support of the civilian population in Gaza, and taking note of the International Humanitarian Conference for the Civilian Population of Gaza held in Paris on 9 November 2023 and its follow-up meeting on 6 December 2023,


1. Reiterates its demand that all parties to the conflict comply with their obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law, including with regard to the conduct of hostilities and the protection of civilians and civilian objects, humanitarian access, and the protection of humanitarian personnel and their freedom of movement, and the duty, as applicable, of ensuring the food and medical supplies, among others, of the population, recalls that civilian and humanitarian facilities, including hospitals, medical facilities, schools, places of worship, and facilities of the UN, as well as humanitarian personnel, and medical personnel, and their means of transport, must be respected and protected, according to international humanitarian law, and affirms that nothing in this resolution absolves the parties of these obligations;


2. Reaffirms the obligations of the parties to the conflict under international humanitarian law regarding the provision of humanitarian assistance, demands that they allow, facilitate and enable the immediate, safe and unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance at scale directly to the Palestinian civilian population throughout the Gaza Strip, and in this regard calls for urgent steps to immediately allow safe, unhindered, and expanded humanitarian access and to create the conditions for a sustainable cessation of hostilities;


3. Demands that the parties to the conflict allow and facilitate the use of all available routes to and throughout the entire Gaza Strip, including border crossings, including full and prompt implementation of the announced opening of the Karem Abu Salem / Kerem Shalom Border Crossing, for the provision of humanitarian assistance in order to ensure that humanitarian personnel and humanitarian assistance, including fuel, food, and medical supplies and emergency shelter assistance, reaches the civilian population in need throughout the Gaza Strip without diversion and through the most direct routes, as well as for material and equipment to repair and ensure the functioning of critical infrastructure and to provide essential services, without prejudice to the obligations of the parties to the conflict under international humanitarian law, and stresses the importance of respecting and protecting border crossings and maritime infrastructure used for the delivery of humanitarian assistance at scale;


4. Requests the Secretary-General, with the objective of expediting the delivery of humanitarian assistance to the civilian population in the Gaza Strip, to appoint a Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator with responsibility for facilitating, coordinating, monitoring, and verifying in Gaza, as appropriate, the humanitarian nature of all humanitarian relief consignments to Gaza provided through states which are not party to the conflict, and further requests that the Coordinator expeditiously establish a UN mechanism for accelerating the provision of humanitarian relief consignments to Gaza through states which are not party to the conflict, consulting all relevant parties, with the goal of expediting, streamlining, and accelerating the process of providing assistance while continuing to help ensure that aid reaches its civilian destination, and demands that the parties to the conflict cooperate with the Coordinator to fulfill their mandate without delay or obstruction;


5. Requests that the Coordinator be appointed expeditiously;


6. Determines that the Coordinator will have the necessary personnel and equipment in Gaza, under the authority of the United Nations, to perform these, and other functions as determined by the Security Council, and requests that the Coordinator report to the Security Council on its work, with an initial report within 20 days and thereafter every 90 days through 30 September 2024;


7. Demands the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, as well as ensuring humanitarian access to address medical needs of all hostages;


8. Demands the provision of fuel to Gaza at levels that will meet requisite humanitarian needs;


9. Calls for all parties to adhere to international humanitarian law and in this regard deplores all attacks against civilians and civilian objects, as well as all violence and hostilities against civilians, and all acts of terrorism;


10. Reaffirms the obligations of all parties under international humanitarian law, including with regard to respecting and protecting civilians and taking constant care to spare civilian objects, including such objects critical to the delivery of essential services to the civilian population, and with regard to refraining from attacking, destroying, removing or rendering useless objects that are indispensable to the survival of the civilian population, as well as respecting and protecting humanitarian personnel and consignments used for humanitarian relief operations;


11. Reaffirms that civilian objects, including places of refuge, including within United Nations facilities and their surroundings, are protected under international humanitarian law, and rejects forced displacement of the civilian population, including children, in violation of international law, including international humanitarian law and international human rights law;


12. Reiterates its unwavering commitment to the vision of the two-State solution where two democratic States, Israel and Palestine, live side by side in peace within secure and recognized borders, consistent with international law and relevant UN resolutions, and in this regard stresses the importance of unifying the Gaza Strip with the West Bank under the Palestinian Authority;


13. Demands that all parties to the conflict take all appropriate steps to ensure the safety and security of United Nations and associated personnel, those of its specialized agencies, and all other personnel engaged in humanitarian relief activities consistent with international humanitarian law, without prejudice to their freedom of movement and access, stresses the need not to hinder these efforts, and recalls that humanitarian relief personnel must be respected and protected;


14. Demands implementation of resolution 2712 (2023) in full, requests the Secretary-General to report to the Security Council in writing within five working days of the adoption of this resolution on the implementation of resolution 2712 (2023), and thereafter as necessary, and calls upon all parties concerned to make full use of the humanitarian notification and deconfliction mechanisms in place to protect all humanitarian sites, including UN facilities, and to help facilitate the movement of aid convoys, without prejudice to the obligations of the parties to uphold international humanitarian law;


15. Requests the Secretary-General to report on the implementation of this resolution in the regular reporting to the Council;


16. Decides to remain actively seized of the matter.



TheTimes of Israel, 22 December 2023, excerpts:


Friday’s vote came after days of intense negotiations and delays required to get the US on board with the initiative. United Arab Emirates Ambassador to the UN Lana Nusseibeh acknowledged that the resolution wasn’t ideal as far as Abu Dhabi is concerned, given that it believes that only an immediate ceasefire will help ensure the surge in humanitarian aid that the initiative seeks.....


Security Council resolutions are legally binding, but in practice, many parties choose to ignore the council’s requests for action.....


Friday’s resolution also requests the appointment of a UN humanitarian coordinator to oversee and verify third-country aid to Gaza......


The adopted resolution states that aid would be managed in consultation with “all relevant parties” — meaning Israel will retain operational oversight of aid deliveries.....


Israel has argued that the limited amount of aid entering Gaza has been the fault of UN facilitators, stressing that it has inspected three times the amount of aid than has been entering Gaza. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres insisted in a Friday statement on the vote that Israel’s offensive was the “real problem… creating massive obstacles” to aid shipments, as he reiterated his call for an immediate humanitarian cease-fire.


Reuters, 21 December 2023:


CAIRO/GAZA/JERUSALEM, Dec 21 (Reuters) - Fighting in the Gaza Strip escalated on Thursday with some of the most intense Israeli bombardment of the war...

Israeli bombing was at its most intense over northern Gaza, where orange flashes of explosions could be seen from across the fence in Israel in the morning hours. Later, Israeli planes roared over central and southern areas, dropping bombs that sent up plumes of smoke, residents said.


In Israel's commercial capital Tel Aviv, sirens wailed and rockets exploded overhead, intercepted by Israeli defences. Shrapnel fell on a school but the children were in shelters and there were no reported casualties, Israel's Ynet news site said.



Wednesday 13 December 2023

COP28 Global Climate Action State of Play: the 1 Per Cent are mocking the rest of the world



Shorter version of two of the documents set out below which were produced by the United Nations Climate Change Conference of Parties (COP28) which was held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, from 30 November to 12 December 2023:


  • There should be no restraints placed on the production of fossil fuels - especially oil, gas and coal.


  • All that is needed is for nations to magically make the greenhouse gas emissions (created by the production and use of fossil fuels) disappear so all manifestations of the global fossil fuel industry can claim they are clean and green.


  • Some of the ways to disappear emissions might be to create new definitions for old problems, use more creative carbon accounting, shove those national emissions into a dark cupboard somewhere and, make the end users of fossil fuels pay more for the product.


  •  The nations of the world need to relax, there's plenty of time, so go back home and think about the fact that fossil fuels are good and climate scientists are just being alarmist.



Summary of Global Climate Action at COP 28, created 11/12/2023, 23:32:26, excerpt:


III. Fast-tracking a just, orderly, and equitable energy transition

6. A rapid decarbonization of the energy system is the key to keeping the goal of 1.5 oC within reach. This requires accelerating clean energy transition both from the demand and supply side, while such transformation should be orderly, just and equitable and also account for energy security.....


DRAFT TEXT, excerpt:

on CMA agenda item 4

First global stocktake under the Paris Agreement

Version 11/12/2023 16:30


Draft text by the President

First global stocktake under the Paris Agreement


38. Recognizes the need to accelerate sustainable, affordable, and inclusive energy transitions, taking into account different starting points, national circumstances and pathways as well as ensuring energy security, affordability and accessibility and the need for sustainable development, eradication of poverty and international cooperation;


39. Also recognizes the need for deep, rapid and sustained reductions in GHG emissions and calls upon Parties to take actions that could include, inter alia:

(a) Tripling renewable energy capacity globally and doubling the global average annual rate of energy efficiency improvements by 2030;

(b) Rapidly phasing down unabated coal and limitations on permitting new and unabated coal power generation;

(c) Accelerating efforts globally towards net zero emissions energy systems, utilizing zero and low carbon fuels well before or by around mid-century;

(d) Accelerating zero and low emissions technologies, including, inter alia, renewables, nuclear, abatement and removal technologies, including such as carbon capture and utilization and storage, and low carbon hydrogen production, so as to enhance efforts towards substitution of unabated fossil fuels in energy systems.

(e) Reducing both consumption and production of fossil fuels, in a just, orderly and equitable manner so as to achieve net zero by, before, or around 2050 in keeping with the science;

(f) Accelerating and substantially reducing non-CO2 emissions, including, in particular, methane emissions globally by 2030;

(g) Accelerating emissions reductions from road transport through a range of pathways, including development of infrastructure and rapid deployment of zero and low emission vehicles;

(h) Phasing out of inefficient fossil fuel subsidies that encourage wasteful consumption and do not address energy poverty or just transitions, as soon as possible;....


The Guardian, 12 December 2023


A statement delivered by the Australian climate change minister, Chris Bowen, on behalf of what’s known as the umbrella group of countries, came as tensions flared at the United Arab Emirates over the text of a draft deal proposed by the summit presidency.....


Bowen referred to Schuster’s statement in his intervention in a later meeting between government representatives and the UAE summit president, Sultan Al Jaber. He was speaking on behalf of the umbrella group of countries, which also includes New Zealand, Norway, Israel, Ukraine and Kazakhstan.


My friend Cedric Schuster, the Samoan minister, said tonight of this draft that we will not sign our death certificates,” Bowen said. “That’s what’s at stake for many countries who are represented here tonight and many people who do not have a voice. We will not be a co-signatory to those death certificates.”


Summary of Global Climate Action at COP 28 by clarencegirl on Scribd


UNFCCC COP28: Draft text by the President First global stocktake under the Paris Agreement by clarencegirl on Scribd


Monday 11 December 2023

The War on Gaza has entered its 10th week and nothing changes - a recounting in video clips


Yesterday, 10 December 2023 was the 75th Anniversary of the United Nation's Universal Declaration of Human Rights


The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the UN General Assembly on 10 December 1948 during the tenure of Australia's Dr HV Evatt as President of the General Assembly. 


Australia had been on the UN Drafting Committee responsible for formulating the draft declaration and pushed for the declaration to include a covenant making it legally enforceable. Australia went on the become one of the original signatories to the final form declaration. 


Seventy-five years later...... 


On 10 December 2023 media sources stated that the death toll in the Gaza Strip was thought to be over 17,700 dead or missing presumed dead since Israel's sustained retaliatory bombardment began on 8 October 2023. UNWRA the UN relief & works agency confirms the vast majority of the dead are believed to be Palestinian civilians with an estimated 40 per cent being children, including newborns, infants and toddlers.


These deaths are now occurring in both the north and south of Gaza as Israel conducts its ground war.


"There is no safe place to go in the Gaza Strip" 

[Palestinian Health Ministry, 9 December 2023] 


The International Criminal Court (ICC) continues to investigate alleged crimes committed "in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, since June 13, 2014". The Israeli Likud Government has refused the ICC and foreign media access to the Gaza Strip since 8 October 2023.


According to the World Health Organisation the Gaza Strip remains cut off from food, water, electricity, civilian telecommunications and health care, with little humanitarian aid allowed to pass though Israeli checkpoints.


The War on Gaza has entered its 10th week, nothing changes and Australia refuses to acknowledge those humanitarian obligations it espoused in 1948.


A recounting in video clips:


9 December 2023


[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOe_6xoGXXA]

Note: Australia does not currently sit on the U.N. Security Council


7 December 2023





BACKGROUND





 

*Supplied transcript*


"And we will tell you, what we tell you every day.


We are coming to Gaza.


We are coming to Lebanon.


We will come to Iran.


We will come to everywhere.


Can you imagine how many we are going to kill?


How many of you, we are going to kill? On each of the 1,300 people you killed, kidnapped.


You did not see these numbers in all Arab history. i assure you, that it will come, in case you are confused.


I assure you it will come, Numbers that you did not imagine, that it is possible, it is possible to get them.


And we are ready to enter International Unity.


We are prepared to fight United States and the entire world.


How long it will take untill all of you, including all your supporters go up to meet Allah? We will kill, it will be clear. This is the sentiments.


So wait in the social media. Do a free palestine. Do all your crying. We will destroy you.







DEEPER BACKGROUND


Twelve months ago on 11 December 2022......

Middle East Eye 

Far-right Israeli member of Knesset Zvika Fogel's disturbing response to Channel 4 Foreign Correspondent, Secunder Kermani, on how the new Israeli government intends to de-escalate the tension between Israelis and Palestinians in Israel and the occupied West Bank moving forward.



Sunday 10 December 2023

Is United Arab Emirates & international fossil fuel industry scheming about to turn UN COP28 into a crime against humanity?


Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber is a 50 year old Emirati politician with a undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering, a Master in Business Administration and a PhD in Business and Economics. 


His studies appear to have been funded by the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) - a state-owned multinational corporation of which he is currently Director-General & Chief Executive Officer. ADNOC is considered one of the world's largest energy companies measured by both fossil fuel reserves and production.


Critics tend to characterise ADNOC under his guidance as a corporation which focuses on 'greenwashing' rather than genuine greenhouse gas emissions reduction/climate change mitigation.


Al Jaber is currently the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology.


He is also President of the 28th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28) which is being hosted by oil-rich UAE and therein lies an immense conflict of interest which has the potential to fatally weaken the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.


COP28 was convened for thirteen days with around 199 nations participating and concludes on Tuesday 12 December 2023. 


AlJazeera, 8 December 2023:


The head of OPEC has urged members to reject any COP28 agreement that “targets” fossil fuels, highlighting deep divisions as the UN climate conference in Dubai enters its final week.


A new draft of the final agreement published on Friday includes a range of options, from agreeing to a “phase out of fossil fuels in line with best available science”, to phasing out “unabated fossil fuels”, to including no language on them at all....


The nearly 200 nations gathered in Dubai are now expected to focus on the issue of fossil fuels in the hope of reaching a consensus before the gathering’s scheduled end......


The most vocal holdout to calls to end fossil fuels is Saudi Arabia, which like summit host United Arab Emirates, is a major oil producer.....


TheGuardian, 3 December 2023:


The president of Cop28, Sultan Al Jaber, has claimed there is “no science” indicating that a phase-out of fossil fuels is needed to restrict global heating to 1.5C, the Guardian and the Centre for Climate Reporting can reveal.


Al Jaber also said a phase-out of fossil fuels would not allow sustainable development “unless you want to take the world back into caves”.


The comments were “incredibly concerning” and “verging on climate denial”, scientists said, and they were at odds with the position of the UN secretary general, António Guterres.


Al Jaber made the comments in ill-tempered responses to questions from Mary Robinson, the chair of the Elders group and a former UN special envoy for climate change, during a live online event on 21 November. As well as running Cop28 in Dubai, Al Jaber is also the CEO of the United Arab Emirates’s state oil company, Adnoc, which many observers see as a serious conflict of interest.


More than 100 countries already support a phase-out of fossil fuels and whether the final Cop28 agreement calls for this or uses weaker language such as “phase-down” is one of the most fiercely fought issues at the summit and may be the key determinant of its success. Deep and rapid cuts are needed to bring fossil fuel emissions to zero and limit fast-worsening climate impacts.....


Guterres told Cop28 delegates on Friday: “The science is clear: The 1.5C limit is only possible if we ultimately stop burning all fossil fuels. Not reduce, not abate. Phase out, with a clear timeframe.”.......


Newsweek, 1 December 2023:


The annual United Nations climate summit started yesterday. We're up to the 28th edition: "COP28." Past UN summits have obviously failed us, but this is a new low. Everyone on Earth needs to know that the meeting has been overrun by fossil fuel executives, making it a sick, planet-destroying joke. There's no real hope of stopping catastrophic global heating until we fix this.


The primary cause of global heating is fossil fuels; and global heating is what's driving all the crazy heat, fire, smoke, storms, flooding, drought, crop yield losses, and ecosystem death that is intensifying everywhere as Earth breaks down. This is basic physics and it's merciless. If left unchecked, every year on average will be hotter than the last, and at some point—no one knows exactly when or how it will unfold—global heating will take down civilization as we know it. Billions of lives are at risk, and the damage to Earth's habitability will last for so long that it will be essentially permanent as far as humans are concerned.


Since fossil fuels are the cause, the only way out of this emergency is to ramp down and ultimately end the fossil fuel industry. Recycling and composting aren't bad things in and of themselves, but they will not stop global heating. The cause is fossil fuels. The only real solution is ending fossil fuels. If you want to help, and you should, forget recycling. Instead, fight the fossil fuel industry every way you can.

















It's easy to imagine an alternate universe in which fossil fuel executives were like, "We already have more money than we know what to do with, so let's not destroy the planet." In this alternate universe, the fossil fuel industry uses its vast power and resources to accelerate humanity's transition to clean energy, so we can all have a planet to live on. Makes sense.


In reality of course, fossil fuel executives made the opposite choice: to spend billions to hire the best and brightest to spread disinformation and block action. Which is sad, and horrible, and nightmarish. They've been doing this for half a century. And they recently promised to keep doing it.


In 2021, six fossil fuel executives testified before congress. They were Darren Woods, CEO of ExxonMobil; Michael Wirth, CEO of Chevron; David Lawler, CEO of BP America; Gretchen Watkins, president of Shell Oil; Mike Sommers, president of the American Petroleum Institute; and Suzanne Clark, president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. When asked in several instances by Congress if they would agree to stop spending to spread disinformation and block climate action, these fossil fuel executives refused. They clearly signaled to the world that they plan to blithely continue dishonestly destroying Earth's habitability for the sake of corporate greed. They are literal supervillains, stealing our future.


This year, 2023, is the hottest in recorded human history. This should surprise no one: global heating is driven inexorably by trending accumulation of fossil fuel carbon dioxide and methane emissions. In this hottest year in human history, the climate summit is being held in the United Arab Emirates and presided over by a fossil fuel chief executive named Sultan Ahmed Al-Jaber. It's hard to imagine anything more cynical or more evil. And yet, things did get more cynical and more evil, with recent revelations that the U.A.E. has been abusing its host role to strike side deals to expand fossil fuels......


Read the full article by Dr. Peter Kalmus, a climate scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory at:

https://www.newsweek.com/climate-summit-sick-joke-you-should-angry-afraid-opinion-1848719



The New York Times (Late Edition), 29 November 2023:


A leaked document has talking points for the president of the United Nations climate conference, who is an oil executive in the United Arab Emirates, to advance oil and gas deals.


As the host of global climate talks that begin this week, the United Arab Emirates is expected to play a central role in forging an agreement to move the world more rapidly away from coal, oil and gas.


But behind the scenes, the Emirates has sought to use its position as host to pursue a contradictory goal: to lobby on oil and gas deals around the world, according to an internal document made public by a whistle-blower.


In one example, the document offers guidance for Emirati climate officials to use meetings with Brazil's environment minister to enlist her help with a local petrochemical deal by the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, the Emirates' state-run oil and gas company, known as Adnoc.


Emirati officials should also inform their Chinese counterparts that Adnoc was "willing to jointly evaluate international LNG opportunities" in Mozambique, Canada and Australia, the document indicates. LNG stands for liquefied natural gas, which is a fossil fuel and a driver of global warming.


These and other details in the nearly 50-page document -- obtained by the Centre for Climate Reporting and the BBC -- have cast a pall over the climate summit, which begins on Thursday. They are indications, experts said, that the U.A.E. is blurring the boundary between its powerful standing as host of the United Nations climate conference, and U.A.E.'s position as one of the world's largest oil and gas exporters.


"I can't believe it," António Guterres, the United Nations Secretary General, said at a news conference Monday. The U.A.E. had been "caught red-handed," Christiana Figueres, a former United Nations diplomat posted on X. Ms. Figueres led the negotiations that yielded the 2015 Paris Agreement, the pact among nations of the world to work to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.


"At this point we might as well meet inside an actual oil refinery," said Joseph Moeono-Kolio, lead adviser to the campaign for a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, an advocacy network.


Members of Emirates' climate delegation didn't respond to requests for comment.....