Climate advocate and former Vice President Al Gore on Sunday called into question the decision to hold the COP28 climate talks in the United Arab Emirates, a leading producer of the world鈥檚 oil.
Gore also criticized the appointment of Sultan Al Jaber, CEO of the state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, as the conference鈥檚 president, given that countries gathered in Dubai for the annual climate conference are discussing ways to reduce or eliminate the use of fossil fuels.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not so much that it鈥檚 in a country that produces oil; it鈥檚 the appointment of the CEO of one the biggest and least responsible oil companies on the planet to be the head of the conference,鈥 Gore said on CNN鈥檚 鈥淪tate of the Union,鈥 characterizing Al Jaber鈥檚 role as a 鈥渄irect conflict of interest鈥 and arguing the fossil fuel industry has 鈥済one too far.鈥
But Gore remained optimistic, saying that the UN-backed summit鈥檚 controversial location and leader could be a 鈥渂lessing in disguise鈥 that 鈥渉as awakened a lot of people to how absurd this situation is.鈥
鈥淚 think there鈥檚 a chance that we could see a surprisingly good outcome here if the majority of the countries there hold on to their convictions and demand a phaseout of fossil fuels,鈥 he said.
Al Jaber, in a late November panel discussion, said there is 鈥渘o science鈥 behind the demand to phase out fossil fuel to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius 鈥 the goal of the Paris climate agreement. After those comments came to light last week, Al Jaber fiercely defended his commitment to climate science and said phasing out fossil fuels is 鈥渋nevitable鈥 and 鈥渆ssential.鈥
US climate envoy John Kerry has publicly supported Al Jaber鈥檚 COP presidency several times but chose not to wade into it at a news conference last week.
The first week of COP28 came to close on Thursday and countries will now begin negotiating an agreement around the phaseout of fossil fuels 鈥 which are the main driver of climate change 鈥 for the first time at the annual climate talks. More than 100 countries support a phaseout in some form, but some oil-producing nations don鈥檛 want any reference to reducing oil and gas.
Gore on Sunday also attributed a global mental health crisis in part to unaddressed threats around climate change.
鈥淭he people of our world deserve to have some confidence that this process has integrity,鈥 he said, 鈥渁nd we鈥檝e been seeing the fossil fuel polluters try to manipulate this process for a long time, and the world is running out of patience.鈥
Despite pollution-slashing pledges made at the conference, the world is still off track to limit global warming to the crucial 1.5-degree threshold, an analysis by the International Energy Agency published Sunday shows. A statement from the agency said the pledges 鈥渨ould not be nearly enough鈥 to accomplish what is now required to cap global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius above temperatures before industrialization
The former vice president on Sunday also weighed in on what another Donald Trump presidency would look like, pointing to Trump鈥檚 comment to Fox鈥檚 Sean Hannity during a town hall last week that he wouldn鈥檛 be a dictator 鈥渆xcept for Day 1.鈥
Gore told CNN鈥檚 Jake Tapper, 鈥淵ou kind of wonder what it鈥檒l take for people to believe him when he tells us who he is.鈥
鈥淎nd the solution to political despair is political action. And for those in the Republican Party and the Democratic Party and independents who love American democracy and who want to preserve our capacity to govern ourselves and solve our problems, now鈥檚 the time to get active,鈥 Gore added.
Trump鈥檚 remark to Hannity last week was in response to comments made by former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, a Republican who lost her seat to a Trump-backed primary challenger last year after she participated in the House select committee that probed the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the US Capitol. She said in a recent CBS interview that the nation would be 鈥渟leepwalking into a dictatorship鈥 if Trump were to win the 2024 presidential election.
Trump, in a speech hosted by the New York Young Republican Club on Saturday, called worries about him becoming a threat to Democracy 鈥渁 hoax. We call it now the threat-to-democracy hoax, because that鈥檚 what it is.鈥
CNN鈥檚 Angela Dewan, Eric Bradner and Alison Main contributed to this report
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