In 2021, one of the largest fossil fuel companies hired US lobbyists to convince the world that big fossil fuel firms want the end of fossil fuels.
"The greatest trick the devil ever pulled"
The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) is the world's 11th biggest oil producer and the 14th most polluting oil company. It is also one of the fastest-growing fossil fuel companies.
According to FARA filings, ADNOC hired Washington-based lobbying APCO Worldwide in April 2021 to "represent the UAE's climate envoy in its interactions with the United States as it relates to the global climate agenda." (https://efile.fara.gov/)
In December 2021, another PR firm, BCW LLC, registered under FARA to work for the Office of United Arab Emirates (UAE) Climate Change Special Envoy. BCW indicated ADNOC headquarters as the address of the Office of UAE Climate Change Special Envoy. BCW provided a copy of the Letter of Agreement with the Office of UAE Climate Change Special Envoy. (https://efile.fara.gov/)
The Letter of Agreement was addressed to "HE Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of ADNOC." Al Jaber signed the ADNOC-BCW Agreement as "MD & CEO, ADNOC Group."
APCO's support for an unnamed climate envoy
Sultan Al Jaber has been CEO and managing director of ADNOC since February 2016 and minister of Industry and Advanced Technology since July 2020. At the end of November 2020, the UAE Government appointed Al Jaber as the Special Envoy for Climate Change.
The ADNOC – APCO Communication Services Agreement was signed on April 4, 2021. ADNOC agreed to a fee of $45,000 plus taxes and expenses (By August 2021, ADNOC paid $31,172.33 in expenses). The agreement was supposed to run through the end of June 2021 but was extended until December 15, 2021.
The UAE's climate advocate and the CEO of the APCO's employer were the same person: Sultan Al Jaber. However, neither the contracts nor any of the statements filed by APCO Worldwide with the US Department of Justice have mentioned the name of "the UAE's climate envoy."
APCO registered 7 top management team members on the ADNOC account, including founder and executive chairman Margery Kraus, Kraus' chief of staff, Prateek Allapur, and APCO's Washington DC office director Nicole Monge. Dubai-based Nic Labuschagne, APCO's Senior Director for Strategy, was also part of the team that rendered services on behalf of ADNOC. Before joining APCO in 2014, Labuschagne had worked for the UAE Government.
On May 23, 2021, the United Arab Emirates announced an offer to host the 28th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 28) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Abu Dhabi in 2023. In November 2021, the UAE Government announced the country was selected to host "the most important global climate conference, COP28, in 2023."
ADNOC paid for BCW services on behalf of UAE's climate envoy
BCW LLC was hired by the Office of the UAE Climate Change Special Envoy in October 2021 to provide "strategic communications counsel and outreach to international news media in connection with the United Nations Climate Change Conference ("COP26") held in Glasgow, Scotland, from October 31-November 13, 2021."
BCW developed "three dedicated work streams and five hubs to drive the dialogue on the UAE's participation at COP 26. An on-site team of four employees of BCW London was in Glasgow to support the UAE delegation."
The contract was one month (October 21, 2021, until November 22, 2021). The budget was $360,000.
In January 2023, Sultan Al Jaber, the oil giant CEO disguised as a climate envoy, was appointed president of this year's UN climate conference, Cop28. The decision sparked outrage and heavy criticism.
The anger is fully justified. The PR campaign designed to enhance Sultan Al Jaber's image as UAE Climate Envoy was paid for with oil money.
