Message From the Editor
This week was busy at DeSmog, filled with breaking news and new articles starting with Cartie Werthman’s in depth dissection of the American PR firm Edelman’s role in enabling oil baron Al Jaber’s ascension to lead the COP28 climate conference.
16 years ago, Edelman began a campaign to turn a UAE oil exec into COP28's president. Hundreds of pages of documents filed with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) recently reviewed by DeSmog show that from 2007 to 2009, Edelman carried out a $6.4 million campaign to boost the United Arab Emirates’ green reputation.
And with just three months to go until the COP28 United Nations climate talks begin in Dubai, critics have stepped up their condemnation of the decision to put Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, the head of Abu Dhabi’s state oil company ADNOC, in charge.
On another somber note, Dana Drugmand dives into a new Global Witness report that calls for greater protection of activists on the front lines of the climate crisis after nearly 200 environmentalists were murdered in 2022.
As in past years, Latin America was the deadliest region for environmental activists in 2022, with 9 out of 10 of the documented killings.
“We fear there are many more defenders being killed every year that we never hear about,” says Laura Furones, lead author of the 2022 report.
In advance of the upcoming high-level climate summit in New York City, United Nations chief António Guterres has called on nations to arrive with firm commitments for ending fossil fuel production.
So far, however, the world’s top 20 oil and gas extractors have enough production planned to generate 173 billion tons of carbon pollution by 2050 — more than enough to blow past their Paris Agreement commitments and heat the world well beyond 1.5 degrees Celsius above historical temperatures. The greatest polluter among them will be the United States.
Those are some of the findings in a new report from the group Oil Change International, which has found that these 20 countries — dubbed the “planet wreckers” — are going to be responsible for almost 90 percent of the expected carbon emissions from planned oil and gas projects between 2023 and 2050.
Make sure to check out these stories and the many others published this week on our website.
Have a story tip or feedback? Get in touch: [email protected]. Want to know what our UK team is up to? Sign up for our UK newsletter.
Thanks,
Brendan DeMelle
Executive Director
P.S. Investigative journalism like this is made possible by readers like you. Can you donate $10 or $20 right now to support more of this essential work?
Image credit: White House photo by Eric Draper
American PR Firm Edelman Enabled Oil Baron Al Jaber’s Ascension to Lead COP28 Climate Conference
— By Cartie Werthman (13 min. read) —
With three months to go until the COP28 United Nations climate talks begin in Dubai, critics have stepped up their condemnation of the decision to put Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, the head of Abu Dhabi’s state oil company ADNOC, in charge of the conference.
What few may realize, however, is that Al Jaber’s ascent to the highest levels of climate diplomacy began 16 years ago, and Edelman, the largest public relations firm in the world, played a crucial role.
Nearly 200 Environmentalists Were Murdered for Their Work in 2022
— By Dana Drugmand (3 min. read) —
In early June of last year, Indigenous rights expert Bruno Pereira and Guardian journalist Dom Phillips set off together on a riverboat journey through Brazil’s Javari Valley Indigenous territory, to meet and speak with residents working to protect the area. They would not make it back alive.
Pereira and Phillips were two of at least 177 environmental and Indigenous land rights advocates killed last year, according to the non-profit organization Global Witness in its latest annual report on risks to environmental activists, while many more were threatened with violence or attacked. The researchers also found that the criminalization of environmental activists, which sometimes precedes violent attacks or murder, is on the rise.
The United States and Canada Are Among the World’s Top 5 ‘Planet Wreckers,’ New Fossil Fuel Report Contends
— By Dana Drugmand (4 min. read) —
United Nations chief António Guterres has called on nations to arrive at September 20’s high-level climate summit in New York City with firm commitments for ending fossil fuel production.
So far, however, the world’s top 20 oil and gas extractors have enough production planned to generate 173 billion tons of carbon pollution by 2050 — more than enough to blow past their Paris Agreement commitments and heat the world well beyond 1.5 degrees Celsius above historical temperatures. The greatest polluter among them will be the United States.
Revealed: How Big Dairy Is Milking Net Zero
— By Alex Park (11 min. read) —
When Pathways to Dairy Net Zero (P2DNZ) made its debut ahead of the United Nations Food Systems Summit in 2021, it looked like the kind of group that could meet an important but largely neglected area of global climate response.
Armed with a seat at the highest levels of food policy, and well-connected – to dairy producers, distributors, and scientists – the initiative described itself as a “growing movement” dedicated to “reducing dairy’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions over the next 30 years”.
Oil Lobby’s Carbon Capture Solution Hasn’t Consulted Local Nation, Chief Says
— By Taylor Noakes (5 min. read) —
The leader of Cold Lake First Nations has revealed the initiator of a major carbon capture project in Northern Alberta has not consulted with local Indigenous communities.
Chief Kelsey Jacko told an Edmonton crowd that the Pathways Alliance, a lobbying and marketing effort by Canada’s top oil sands producers, has neglected to consult his community on a massive carbon capture storage network project Pathways claims will be able to store 1,100 megatonnes of carbon dioxide.
From the Climate Disinformation Database: Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber
Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, Ph.D., is a minister of state in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Federal Cabinet and managing director and group CEO of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC). According to his profile at the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology (MoIAT), Al Jaber serves as UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology. He is also a member of the UAE Federal Cabinet, and the UAE’s “special envoy for climate change.” Al Jaber was appointed to preside over COP28, the UNFCCC international climate negotiations held in Dubai, UAE, in late 2023. However, he will retain his roles as the head of the UAE’s state-owned oil company ADNOC, and its renewable energy business. The appointment concerned environmental groups, with some comparing the appointment to “invit[ing] arm dealers to lead peace talks.”
Read the full profile and browse other individuals and organizations in our Climate Disinformation Database and Koch Network Database.
