The latest sign of that came on Monday when a coalition of major UAE energy and financial companies indicated its intention to buy $450 million of carbon credits generated in Africa by 2030.

It was one of the most highly-anticipated announcements at the first Africa Climate Summit taking place in Nairobi, Kenya, this week. Over 30 heads of state are joining nearly 25,000 delegates to drum up support for climate action on the continent.

But the summit organiser’s strong focus on instruments such as carbon credits to mobilise funds has attracted criticism from environmental groups.

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Thandile Chinyavanhu, Greenpeace Africa climate and energy campaigner, says “it is regrettable that the Africa Climate Summit is becoming a bazaar for carbon credit speculators and propagandists that serve to greenwash rather than reduce harmful emissions”.

“They are risky diversions from real climate and biodiversity action that requires ending fossil fuel expansion and industrial destruction of our ecosystems”, she added.

Carbon credits mega-deal

Powering Africa’s push for carbon credits is the African Carbon Markets Initiative (ACMI). Launched at Cop27, the group brings together nations including Kenya, Nigeria, Gabon and Western philantropies like the Rockefeller Foundation and Bezos Earth Fund.

Run by the American consultancy Mckinsey, the initiative aims to increase the number of carbon credits generated on the African continent from 16 million a year in 2020 to around 300 million by 2030.

Such large amounts of credits will be created only if there is enough interest from buyers, the initiative argues, so one of the initiative’s main task has been to secure early commitment from investors. Its biggest backer to date is based in the UAE.

During a panel event at the climate summit on Monday, ACMI announced a non-binding agreement to buy $450 of carbon credits from the UAE Carbon Alliance. Founded last June, this coalition includes the Mubadala sovereign wealth fund, renewable energy company Masdar and the UAE’s largest lender, First Abu Dhabi Bank.

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The UAE Carbon Alliance wants to establish the Emirates as “a leading hub for high integrity, high quality carbon markets”, facilitating the trading of offsets between companies.

The ACMI’s head Paul Muthaura says the deal gives a clear indication there is an appetite for African carbon credits. “There is often a sentiment that African credits are not equivalent to those from other regions,” the CEO told Climate Home News. “Having advanced market signals from strong reputable entities reaffirms that there are high quality credits being generated on the African continent.”

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Climate Asset Management – a joint venture of HSBC and a climate change investment firm called Pollination – also announced a $200 million commitment towards buying ACMI’s carbon credit projects.

Muthaura also added his organisation is in the process of negotiating a more extensive partnership with the UAE-based group for solutions not only in the voluntary carbon markets but also in the trading of offsets between countries.

Sheikh’s forest agreements

The Carbon Alliance is not the only Emirati organisation taking a keen interest in African carbon credits.

Blue Carbon, a company founded by Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum, a member of the royal family of Dubai, has signed memorandums of understanding with governments in Liberia, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe to manage huge swathes of their forests and produce carbon credits from conservation activities.

Blue Carbon hopes to sell those credits to governments that want to offset their carbon emissions as a mechanism to meet their climate pledges.

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In its latest climate plan, the UAE wrote that, while it primarily intends to rely on domestic efforts to hit its targets, it “reserves the right” to tap into offsets trading mechanism under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement to partially fulfill these commitments.

The agreements have attracted criticism from environmental organizations. A group of international NGOs called on the Liberian government and Blue Carbon to stop negotiations as, they claim, the deal could breach community land ownership and violate people’s rights to have a say in the development of their land.

Critics also say carbon credits allow for continued pollution by wealthier countries and corporations, that should instead provide direct compensation to those who contributed less to climate change.

The post UAE pitches itself as Africa’s carbon credits leader appeared first on Climate Home News.

The remarks represent a slight shift in al Jaber’s position since his previous agenda-setting speech when he expressed support for the “phase out of fossil fuel emissions”, carving out a big role for carbon capture and storage technologies.

The renewed rhetoric also inches him closer to the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who last month called on countries to phase out fossil fuels and “to leave oil, gas and coal in the ground where they belong”.

But al Jaber has still stopped short of calling for a “phase out” or indicating the pace at which the phase down needs to happen. His remarks are closely watched as the Cop host plays an important part in shaping the direction of negotiations, putting together the draft texts that countries are asked to accept.

Battle of words

The November summit in Dubai could see a repeat of the Cop26 word battle between governments pushing for a “phase out” or a “phase down” of coal-fired power.

In the end, the latter version of the commitment, backed by India and China, won out to the disappointment of Pacific island nations and some developed countries.

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In separate remarks to the OPEC oil producing nations meeting in Vienna on Thursday, the Cop28 president-designate has urged the oil and gas industry to “step up its game” and invest more money in clean energy.

“The energy system of the future cannot and will not build itself”, he said.

Last month Guterres called on fossil fuel companies to inject their record windfall from high oil and gas prices into renewable energies, calling the current level of investment “immoral”.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), oil and gas companies invested less than 5% of their spending on clean electricity and carbon capture. Majors like Shell and BP have scaled back plans to boost spending for renewables, while reviving exploration for new oil and gas deposits.

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On Thursday Shell’s CEO Wael Sawan doubled down on the company’s commitment to fossil fuels. He told the BBC cutting oil and gas production would be “dangerous and irresponsible” as it would lead to the cost of living crisis to “shoot up again”.

Just a few hours later, al Jaber reiterated to the meeting of oil-producing countries that “the phase down of fossil fuels is inevitable, it is in fact essential”. But he also added that “it cannot be irresponsible” and that “the speed of the transition will be driven by how quickly we phase up zero-carbon alternatives.”

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Al Jaber is the CEO of Adnoc, the UAE’s state-owned oil and gas company, and chairman of Masdar, a renewable energy provider.

Tripling global renewable energy generation by 2030 is one of the big pledges the Cop28 team is keen to deliver in Dubai. Proponents of the commitment also include the European Union, the United States, Chile, Colombia and representatives of small island states. The proposal has not met significant opposition.

The post UAE’s al Jaber says Cop28 will fast-track phase down of fossil fuels appeared first on Climate Home News.

The move is likely to cause discomfort among Western leaders who are strongly opposed to restoring diplomatic relations with the Syrian regime.

A US government official told Climate Home News it does not believe Assad should be welcomed into international forums such as the Leaders’ Summit at COP 28.

The UAE’s invitation is the latest sign of an attempt by some Arab powers to rehabilitate the Syrian president who has been accused of war crimes and human rights violations.

Syria was readmitted this month to the Arab League, a regional organisation of 22 countries, following a 12-year exclusion.

“PR gift” to Assad

Kristyan Benedict from Amnesty International said the UAE’s invite was not remotely about tackling the climate crisis.

“It’s part of an insidious normalisation process designed to maintain impunity for leaders across the region,” he said. “Millions of people who have fled Syria and had relatives detained, tortured and murdered, will be horrified by this PR gift to Assad.”

https://twitter.com/DamascusUae/status/1657841749903958024?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1657841749903958024%7Ctwgr%5E58576fa5464a869ee39edf0ba30638bc633c1b50%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fnews.sky.com%2Fstory%2Fsyrian-president-bashar-al-assad-invited-by-uae-to-cop28-climate-summit-12882104

The Cop28 team said it was committed to an inclusive process that produces transformational solutions. “This can only happen if we have everyone in the room.”

Syria is a party to the UNFCCC and a signatory of the Paris Agreement. A Syrian delegation attended Cop27 at Sharm-el-Sheik last year, but that did not include Assad.

War crimes accusations

If confirmed, Assad’s presence at this year’s climate summit could lead to uncomfortable encounters with leaders of nations that have imposed severe sanctions against the Syrian regime.

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More than 300,000 people have been killed and millions more displaced in the country’s brutal civil war. The Syrian regime, led by Assad, has been accused of war crimes, including the use of chemical weapons on civilians.

A UN fact-finding mission found “widespread and systematic human rights violations by Syrian security and military forces”, including murder, enforced disappearances, torture and deprivation of liberty.

Rehabilitation push

Joseph Daher, a Syria expert at the European University Institute, said the UAE has been a leading force behind the efforts to normalise ties with the Syrian regime.

The UAE reopened its embassy in the Syrian capital Damascus in 2018, a highly significant move at the time that inspired other countries to do the same.

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Most Western nations have not seen Assad’s attempted rehabilitation in a good light.

The US and the UK criticised the Arab League’s decision to readmit Syria.“Our position is clear: We are not going to be in the business of normalising relations with Assad and with that regime,” said US secretary of state Antony Blinken in a joint press conference last week.

The EU remains opposed to normaliing the Syrian regime until it engages meaningfully in a political solution to the conflict.

Uncomfortable encounters

Daher said that, if Assad goes to Dubai, Western leaders will not want to be seen anywhere close to him in the room. “They will be careful not to show any form of legitimacy.”

The presence of authoritarian leaders has caused discomfort at previous climate summits.

At Cop27 last year, US Special Envoy John Kerry shook hands with Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro, who the US does not recognise as the country’s legitimate leader.

A US official later told the press that Kerry had been caught by surprise by Maduro.

The article has been updated to include a comment from a US government official received after publication

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