The president of COP28 has said comments he made claiming there was “no science” behind cutting fossil fuels were misrepresented.
The head of the climate change summit in Dubai sparked fury among climate leaders after saying there was no science to suggest phasing out fossil fuels will limit global warming to 1.5C.
Addressing the controversy over the remarks, Sultan al Jaber stressed that the phasing out of fossil fuels was essential.
“Everything this presidency has been working on, continues to work on, is focused on and centred around the science,” he told a press conference.
He said the comments had been misrepresented to get maximum coverage and hit out at what he called the “constant and repeated attempts to undermine the work of the COP28 presidency”.
The controversial remarks were made during an online question and answer session last month, a video obtained by The Guardian revealed on Sunday.
He was replying to Mary Robinson, former Irish president and a former UN climate envoy, who said nations needed to commit to phasing out fossil fuel usage.
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He said: ”