Oil executive will lead world climate talks. Lawmakers are trying to oust him.

More than 130 members of Congress and the European Parliament on Tuesday called for the ouster of the oil executive leading the next U.N. Climate Change Conference in the United Arab Emirates this fall.

Both climate and human rights activists say the integrity of the climate gatherings are at stake.

“It’s pretty straightforward: The head of a national oil company should not be the president-designate of a climate conference,” Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), who signed the letter along with 34 other congressional Democrats, said in an interview. “It’s a slap in the face to young climate activists.”

While often mired in controversy, the annual COP negotiations remain the leading global forum for nations to address climate change, and pressure is mounting on them to deliver on past promises.

Some participants argue the fossil fuel industry must be part of the discussion, but Khanna said that having an oil executive lead the global conference goes too far.

“Sure, have them at the table,” he said. “Just don’t put them at the head of the table.”

The letter is addressed to leaders on both sides of the Atlantic, including President Biden, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, U.N. Secretary General António Guterres and Simon Stiell, the executive secretary of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change. It urges these leaders to “engage in diplomatic efforts to secure the withdrawal” of Al Jaber.

“With commonsense reforms to help restore public faith in the COP process severely jeopardized by having an oil company executive at the helm,” the letter says, “we respectfully submit that different leadership is necessary to help ensure that COP28 is a serious and productive climate summit.”

Adnan Amin, the chief executive of the COP28 talks, said in an emailed statement that Al Jaber is uniquely qualified to lead the conference, noting that he also serves as chairman of Masdar, a renewable energy company based in Abu Dhabi.

“Dr. Sultan has a 20-year career in the renewable energy space,” Amin said. “Masdar is one of the world’s largest investors in renewable energy, with 25 thousand megawatts of operational clean energy on its books right now and a goal to expand to 100 GW by 2030.”

U.S. climate envoy John F. Kerry has also voiced strong support for the appointment of Al Jaber, calling him a “terrific choice” because of — not despite — his role atop an oil giant.

“That company knows it needs to transition” away from fossil fuels, Kerry told the Associated Press in January after attending an energy conference in Abu Dhabi. “He knows — and the leadership of the UAE is committed to transitioning.”

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), who helped organize the letter, pushed back on this assessment. He noted that the UAE plans to increase its crude oil production from 4 million to 5 million barrels a day, even as the country pledges to become carbon-neutral by 2050.

“The fact that he’s engaged in the renewable industry is fine,” Whitehouse said of Al Jaber. “But you can engage in the renewable industry all day long, and as long as you’re still pumping carbon pollution into the atmosphere, that’s where the danger lies.”