Facing criticism for saying that drawing down fossil fuels should not be the focus of climate efforts. Sultan Al Jaber, who is the head of COP28, has put out some statements in a press conference earlier today. [00:00:15] And in that, according to the New York Times, he was still defiant and suggested that he did not say what he can be heard saying on the video. And he indicated that anyone who claimed otherwise was trying to undermine his leadership of COP28. I would argue that the person who said those things was undermining his [00:00:32] leadership of COP28, which is him. So you didn't, your lying ears are wrong, I didn't say that, is his official response. He appeared to take the criticism personally and described his background as an economist and an engineer, quote, I respect the science in everything I do. [00:00:48] I have said over and over that the phase-down and the phaseout of fossil fuels is inevitable. He insisted that he has called many times for a phaseout of fossil fuels and said that his efforts to champion climate change has been ignored by the media. He appeared aggrieved, saying one statement taken out of context with [00:01:04] misrepresentation and misinterpretation that gets maximum coverage, look, am I a perfect person with no flaws? No, can I misinterpret things? Yes, I don't think that we did that I feel like that's what he said. Yes, maybe he thinks that it's inevitable, but [00:01:21] he was bristling at the idea that that's something that should be focused on and expedited, which is what the scientists say. They say we have a bare handful of years in which to get this under control it cannot be an inevitability for the 2050s, 2060s, 2070s, no now we need to do it. [00:01:41] So you admitting that someday we're not gonna be using oil is not demonstrating that you listen to or care about the scientists, I don't care what your educational background was. Right now you're the CEO of an oil company and you sure seem to be acting more like that than whatever prior attachment you had to academia. [00:01:58] >> Speaker 2: This is just so indicative of how broken and aimless the COP meetings are, sadly, and it's emblematic in this guy and his cavalier attitude. And you could say you could replace him with someone else from the UAE who is [00:02:14] more diplomatic, who smiles more, who doesn't interrupt people. But who lies is all the same and who ultimately is still using the COP to make oil deals while supposedly trying to save the planet immolation. [00:02:30] So yeah, look, Greta was right, Greta is right, and Greta will be right, okay? The way through this is mass action, but also climate voting, voting in people rising up against our leaders who do not care. We don't have the oil wealth, we don't have that money, the people of UAE [00:02:49] don't have that money, it is about all of us rising up against these fools. >> 100% yeah, and making sure that their obvious quest to extract as much money as possible by pumping the brakes on us, saving ourselves and our civilization needs to be stopped. [00:03:05] [MUSIC]