Mohamed Nasheed, president of the Maldives speaking at the opening of the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi yesterday.
Mohamed Nasheed, president of the Maldives speaking at the opening of the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi yesterday.
Mohamed Nasheed, president of the Maldives speaking at the opening of the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi yesterday.
Mohamed Nasheed, president of the Maldives speaking at the opening of the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi yesterday.

Gulf leaders defend virtues of fossil fuels


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ABU DHABI // Gulf oil ministers rose to defend fossil fuels as the bedrock of world energy supplies yesterday even as some clean-energy proponents forecast the arrival of a post-petroleum world. Ministers from Qatar and the UAE told the World Future Energy Summit that clean energy would complement, rather than replace oil and natural gas. Their comments clashed with predictions from others at the conference that continued growth in consumption of fossil fuels and resulting carbon emissions will cause unstoppable climate change, and the world must move quickly to replace the use of oil in transport and heating.

Abdullah al Attiyah, the Qatari minister of energy and deputy premier, forcefully pushed back against what he said was an attempt to "scapegoat" fossil fuels producers. "Why did Copenhagen fail? It's because when you go there you feel that someone is trying to create a scapegoat," he said, referring to last month's climate talks in the Danish capital. "You try to blame oil and gas producers." Mr al Attiyah accused some proponents of clean energy of attempting to "eliminate" the livelihoods of oil and gas producers, and suggested the positions of some critics would change if they became major oil producers. World leaders, he said, need to move towards "soft language" when assigning blame for climate change, and said the term "alternative energy" conjured up an image of traditional energy suppliers being replaced.

"When you have something you will protect it," he said. "I remember a few countries, before they were against oil, and then they discovered it." Qatar joined Saudi Arabia and the leadership of Opec late last year in warning that an aggressive effort to reduce carbon emissions could have spillover effects on the economies of oil producers. The group called for oil producers to receive compensation for those effects, a proposal that gained hardly any traction at the Copenhagen talks.

Mr al Attiyah's comments stood out from a number of speeches yesterday that urged investors and policy makers to move away from fossil fuels as quickly as possible. Mohammed Nasheed, the president of the Maldives, said global emissions of carbon must peak before 2015 and the world must hold warming to 1.5°C to avoid a catastrophe. Both goals have been described as unrealistic by many energy experts, but Mr Nasheed's low-lying nation would be among the first to disappear amid a forecasted rise in sea levels.

Global energy consumption is growing so quickly that all sources of energy will be needed in the future, said Mohammed al Hamli, the UAE Minister of Energy. "We all know that the fossil fuels are not going to be able to meet the world economic growth," he said. "I believe there is room for fossil fuels, for nuclear and for renewables. I believe that the sources of energy complement each other." Mr al Hamli said the UAE had adopted a strategy to diversify its sources of energy after natural gas supplies proved inadequate. Abu Dhabi last month awarded a US$20 billion (Dh73.4bn) contract to a group of South Korean firms to build four nuclear reactors, and the Abu Dhabi Government's clean energy firm, Masdar, continues to plan large additions to solar capacity.

Establishing the headquarters of the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena) in Abu Dhabi last year showed the potential for oil producers and consumers to work together, said Helene Pelosse, the agency's director general. "For the first time, a decision was made, that despite our differences, we should co-operate on renewable energy to fight climate change," she said. "It sends a message that we cannot rely on the energy of the past to power the future."

@Email:cstanton@thenational.ae

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Rating: 4/5

Abu Dhabi card

5pm: Handicap (TB) Dh100,000 2,400m

5.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh 70,000 2,200m

6pm: Abu Dhabi Fillies Classic Prestige (PA) Dh110,000 1,400m

6.30pm: Abu Dhabi Colts Classic Prestige (PA) Dh110,000 1,400m

7pm: Handicap (PA) Dh85,000 1,600m

7.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,600m

The National selections:

5pm: Valcartier

5.30pm: AF Taraha

6pm: Dhafra

6.30pm: Maqam

7pm: AF Mekhbat

7.30pm: Ezz Al Rawasi  

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Al Jazira's foreign quartet for 2017/18

Romarinho, Brazil

Lassana Diarra, France

Sardor Rashidov, Uzbekistan

Mbark Boussoufa, Morocco

Gothia Cup 2025

4,872 matches 

1,942 teams

116 pitches

76 nations

26 UAE teams

15 Lebanese teams

2 Kuwaiti teams

 

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Brief scores

Toss India, chose to bat

India 281-7 in 50 ov (Pandya 83, Dhoni 79; Coulter-Nile 3-44)

Australia 137-9 in 21 ov (Maxwell 39, Warner 25; Chahal 3-30)

India won by 26 runs on Duckworth-Lewis Method

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Barcelona 3
Messi (27’, 32’, 87’)

Leganes 1
El Zhar (68’)

The National's picks

4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young

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EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years

Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products

Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries

Smoother border management with use of e-gates

Cutting red tape on import and export of food

Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
  • Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
The five pillars of Islam

1. Fasting 

2. Prayer 

3. Hajj 

4. Shahada 

5. Zakat 

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AT4 Ultimate, as tested

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Global state-owned investor ranking by size

1.

United States

2.

China

3.

UAE

4.

Japan

5

Norway

6.

Canada

7.

Singapore

8.

Australia

9.

Saudi Arabia

10.

South Korea

The specs

Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder MHEV

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