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| Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber |
The United Nations’ climate conference is searching for a PR firm to support its COP28 summit slated for Dubai from Nov. 30 to Dec. 12, according to a report in the Financial Times.
The COP28 organizers are under pressure for the appointment of Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, head of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, as president-designate of the summit.
He will be the first corporate CEO to head the UN’s climate conference.
More than 100 US and European politicians signed a May 23 letter to president Joe Biden, European Commission head Ursula von de Leyen and UN secretary Antonio Guterres urging the replacement of Al Jaber.
“The decision to name as president of COP28 the chief executive of one of the world’s largest oil and gas companies—a company that has recently announced plans to add 7.6 billion barrels of oil to its production in the coming years, representing the fifth-largest increase in the world—risks undermining the negotiations,” stated the letter.
US Senators Peter Welch, Richard Blumenthal, Jeff Merkley, Ed Markey, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren signed the letter.
Edelman handled the announcement of the COP28 presidency but no longer handles it.
COP28 plays up Al Jaber’s role in shaping the UAE’s clean energy path as chairman of its Masdar renewable power unit. It credits Al Jaber for spearheading a $15B decarbonization strategy and low-carbon solutions push.
Al Jaber’s opponents believes his role at COP28 will jeopardize public faith in the process.
They believe different leadership “is necessary to help ensure that COP28 is a serious and productive climate summit.”
A focus on all the ways that greenhouse gases are created, not just from fossil fuels, marks the evolution from clean energy and clean tech to climate tech, according to Melissa Mahoney from V2 Communications.
Kristin Wilson-Palmer, who has been a senior VP in Edelman’s Washington, DC office since 2021, joins the Natural Resources Defense Council as chief communications officer.
Educating the next generation to the facts and science surrounding the climate crisis.
Melanie Janin, who was executive VP at Weber Shandwick, has joined Conservation International as chief communications & marketing officer.
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