The United Arab Emirates, which will host COP28 in December, has not reported its methane gas pollution for nearly a decade, The Guardian reports. UAE state oil company CEO Sultan Ahmed Al-Jaber, who will serve as president of the UN climate summit, has repeatedly shunned the need to phase out fossil fuels — instead focusing on “fossil fuel emissions” — and has called on nations and companies to be to be “brutally honest” about the current shortcomings of global climate action.
Methane, the main component of so-called “natural gas,” traps more than 80 times more heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide over a 20 year time frame. “The UAE wishes to lead the world on climate this year, and methane is a litmus test. Building new fossil gas projects, setting incoherent targets and failing to properly report methane emissions are three ways Abu Dhabi is showing the opposite of leadership,” said Kjell Kühne of the Leave it in the Ground Initiative. “Even the best PR in the world cannot hide the fact that we will not save the climate with more fossil fuels. Actions, not words are required from an aspiring leader at this point.” (The Guardian)