Oil producers junk criticism days ahead of COP28 climate summit

Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has issued a robust defence of the oil and gas industry just days before the commencement of the largest-ever climate talks, challenging the International Energy Agency (IEA) and highlighting the increasingly contentious debate surrounding the most effective approaches to address global warming.

In a statement on November 27, OPEC asserted that the IEA has “unjustly vilified” the industry for its role in the climate crisis, contesting a recent report from the Paris-based agency.

OPEC highlighted the oil industry’s commitment to embracing renewables, with significant investments underway, and emphasised ongoing efforts to invest in technologies aimed at reducing emissions.

“The manner in which the IEA has unfortunately used its social media platforms in recent days to criticize and instruct the oil-and-gas industry is undiplomatic,” OPEC Secretary-General Haitham Al-Ghais was quoted by Bloomberg as saying. “OPEC itself is not an organization that would prescribe to others what they should do.”

COP28 is a two-week annual conference, convened by the United Nations, with a focus on climate change. This year’s gathering will be held in Dubai, UAE, one of the world’s top oil-producing nations, angering activists

COP stands for the Conference of the Parties, where the “parties” stand for 197 states and a regional economic organisation. They gather once a year to discuss plans to limit climate change.

The original UN climate agreement was signed in 1992. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was a treaty to curb the alarming rise of pollution, which causes global warming.