Climate change activists slam head of next COP gathering

Hundreds of climate and environmental groups from around the world released a letter yesterday that decried the nomination of an oil executive to oversee the United Nations climate negotiations at COP28 this year. Earlier this month, the United Arab Emirates, host of the UN climate talks this year, named Sultan al-Jaber to the presidency of the conference from November 30 to December 12. The company he runs as chief executive, the Abu Dhabi National Oil Co., produces 4 million barrels of crude oil per day and hopes to expand to 5 million daily by the end of the decade. Revenues generated from the sale of that oil are critical to economic health of the UAE, which is among the world’s top 10 oil producers.