UAE provides conducive environment for cooperation between fossil fuel providers, climate activists: Atlantic Council President and CEO

ABU DHABI, 13th January, 2023 (WAM) — Frederick Kempe, President and CEO of the Atlantic Council, said that the UAE provides a conducive environment for climate activists and fossil fuel providers to work together, because the UAE is not only one of the world’s most important fossil fuel producers, but also one of the most important pioneers in renewables through Masdar.

“The Emirati role is always of importance, in 2023, it’s of outsized importance because of COP28, [to be held] in November and December,” Kempe said in a statement to the Emirates News Agency (WAM) ahead of the seventh annual Atlantic Council Global Energy Forum, which is set to be kick off tomorrow in Abu Dhabi. “I think the fact that Dr. Sultan Al Jaber as President-Designate of COP28 is a very good sign, because he and his history bring together these two pieces. He was the first CEO of Masdar, and one of the most important investors in renewables anywhere in the world. He’s also the CEO of ADNOC which I believe is the 14th largest producer of fossil fuels in the world.”

He added, “Because you need industry to make net-zero, not only commitments, but also the road map of how we’re going to get there, and at the same, time you have to speed up renewables, I think you’re going to see the UAE set some of the most ambitious goals ever for a presidency of COP. I’m very excited about this year, and I think the UAE is going to play a role of significance worldwide.”

Asked about the shift in the energy sector, the Atlantic Council President and CEO noted that “the [energy] landscape in 2023 will have much of the same volatility we’ve seen in 2022. The difference is the Chinese economy is going to come back because of the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions, but at the same time Europe and the United States are going to be slowing down”.

“What we need is a breakthrough in battery storage and until we have a big breakthrough in storage and that still could be 5 to 10 years away, we’re not going to be able to replace fossil fuels with renewables as much as we would like to. In the meantime, what we’re going to have to do is get faster emissions reductions through the use of natural gas and that’s what we’re seeing happen now,” he went on to explain.

“On the question of nuclear, I think what you’re seeing is the climate activists embracing particularly small modular plants that have less threat of proliferation, less safety issues, and they are also embracing natural gas in way they haven’t before. The fossil fuel producers know they’ve got to deal with climate. They’re putting billions of dollars into doing that, and the climate activists are becoming more pragmatic as well that they understand that the transition can’t take place without fossil fuels.”