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Sultan al-Jaber, the CEO of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company and president-designate of the COP28 climate summit, urged the energy industry to join the fight against climate change during the CERAWeek energy conference. Borrowing a famous line from a U.S. astronaut during the Apollo 13 mission, Jaber said “Houston, we have a problem” to emphasize the urgent need for action on climate change. His comments received loud applause from the nearly 1,000 attendees at the conference.
Despite being a controversial pick to lead the COP28 climate summit because of his position as an OPEC member and major oil exporter, Jaber used his platform to call on the industry to take action. He met with John Kerry, the United States Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, ahead of the conference to discuss ways to align the oil and gas sector with the 1.5°C imperative.
The United Arab Emirates is only the second Arab state to host the conference, after Egypt in 2022. Kerry later tweeted his appreciation for the opportunity to work together with Jaber to deliver ambitious action on the clean energy transition.