When the United Arab Emirates hosts this year\u2019s United Nations climate summit, it will elevate the Gulf nation\u2019s global profile. But the conference is also inviting scrutiny of the Emirates\u2019 record on human rights as well as its position as a leading oil producer.<\/p>\n
A leaked recording of a February meeting between representatives from the United Arab Emirates and summit organizers provides a candid look at their efforts to respond to the criticism. It also highlights the authoritarian state\u2019s focus on its image, managed through contracts with public relations companies, lobbyists and social media specialists around the world.<\/p>\n
Hosting the global summit, known as COP28, had given rise to unwelcome questions about the Emirates\u2019 human rights record and \u201calarm bells started going off,\u201d one Emirati official, who identified herself as head of the human rights office at the presidential court, told the gathering.<\/p>\n
Taped in its entirety by a participant, the recording was obtained by the Centre for Climate Reporting, a London-based nonprofit organization, and shared with the The New York Times. The Times verified the recording with the person who made it, who asked to remain anonymous out of concerns about retaliation.<\/p>\n
One participant during the 30-minute meeting, who identified herself as Sconaid McGeachin, the communications director for the climate summit, said the Emirates needed a strategy to fend off critics.<\/p>\n
\u201cCOPs have evolved, obviously, over time. Now they\u2019re an outlet for activism and for youth activism,\u201d said Ms. McGeachin, a public relations specialist who was hired by the Emirates. \u201cThey will use this opportunity to attack the U.A.E. We need to preserve the reputation of the U.A.E., to look at how we can protect that and enhance its reputation, and to try and minimize those attacks as much as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vincent Hughes, a spokesman for the climate summit, called the recording \u201cunverified\u201d and declined to comment on its content. However, he added: \u201cThe COP28 team has held \u2014 and continues to hold \u2014 meetings regarding its comprehensive preparations with key and relevant stakeholders.\u201d He said the conference would \u201ctake an inclusive approach that engages all stakeholders\u201d and would be \u201ca milestone moment for global climate action.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Emirati foreign ministry declined to answer questions. Ms. McGeachin declined to comment.<\/p>\n
The Emirates\u2019 neighbor, Qatar, found itself in a similar situation as host of the 2022 World Cup. Qatar faced a barrage of criticism and some boycotted the event over the country\u2019s human rights policies, particularly LGBTQ and migrant worker rights. Last year\u2019s U.N. climate conference, hosted by Egypt, was preceded by the arrests of dozens of activists by Egyptian security forces, triggering an international outcry.<\/p>\n
The climate summit is convened annually by the United Nations, and its host countries rotate. It is set to take place this year in Dubai and will be led by Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, the Emirates\u2019 climate envoy.<\/p>\n
His appointment has been controversial. Mr. Al Jaber runs the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, the state-owned oil giant, which provides about 3 percent of the world\u2019s oil. He also runs the much smaller state-owned renewables company, Masdar.<\/p>\n
That an oil executive will run an international gathering aimed at tackling climate change has been met with deep skepticism by environmental groups. Though Abu Dhabi has taken steps to diversify, its economy and government budget rely heavily on the continued production of oil and gas.<\/p>\n
Human rights groups, meanwhile, have criticized the Emirates for its lack of freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and other basic rights. Protests, which are common at United Nations climate summits, are essentially banned in the Emirates.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the fundamental contradiction at the heart of the U.A.E. acting as host of the annual global climate conference,\u201d said Devin Kenney, who researches the United Arab Emirates for Amnesty International. \u201cHow are you supposed to have a serious discussion about a critical problem for all humanity in a country where critical discussion is illegal?\u201d<\/p>\n
In the recording, officials discuss a survey of more than 20,000 people in 20 countries about attitudes toward the Emirates, commissioned by the Emirati foreign minister, Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe biggest concerns that came out were all associated with human rights,\u201d including freedom of speech, the right to protest and L.G.B.T.Q.+ issues, Ms. McGeachin told the gathering. Queer people can face severe discrimination in the Emirates, and the state\u2019s vague laws \u2014 such as those that punish \u201cpromoting sin\u201d or violating \u201cpublic morals\u201d \u2014 could be wielded against them, human rights groups warn.<\/p>\n
Ms. McGeachin added that organizers should try to blunt the criticism by reaching out to human rights groups like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, which have been critical of the Emirates\u2019 record of abuses. \u201cWe need to demonstrate that, and we need to be seen to be engaging all stakeholders,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
But the human rights official from the Emirati presidential court said a better strategy was to keep engagement tightly focused on climate change.<\/p>\n
\u201cConversations should be limited to those directly associated with climate change,\u201d she said in the recording. She said it was \u201cnot mandatory\u201d to answer questions about the country\u2019s position on L.G.B.T.Q. rights.<\/p>\n
It was critical that the climate conference was \u201cnot used as a free pass to throw everything at us,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Human rights organizations have urged the Emirates to end its detention of activists, academics, lawyers and others. This week, more than a dozen human rights groups sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, calling on the United States to pressure the Emirates to release Ahmed Mansoor, a government critic who has been jailed since 2017.<\/p>\n
As the host nation, the United Arab Emirates shapes all aspects of the summit, including the staffing, agenda and access, said Nikki Reisch, climate and energy program director at the Center for International Environmental Law. \u201cBut with that influence comes responsibility to manage the process for the benefit of the international community, not for the interest of a single country \u2014 and certainly not for a single industry.\u201d<\/p>\n
Under its agreement with the United Nations regarding the summit, the Emirates has promised to make \u201cspace available for climate activists to assemble peacefully and make their voices heard.\u201d The secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which oversees global climate conferences, was \u201ccommitted to upholding the rights of all participants\u201d Alexander Saier, a spokesman for the organization, said.<\/p>\n
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said they had not been contacted by Emirates officials, and that numerous attempts to discuss human rights with the government had been ignored.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the complaint is that HRW and other groups will use COP28 to highlight human rights issues in the UAE, they are absolutely correct,\u201d said Joey Shea, a researcher at Human Rights Watch. \u201cThe climate crisis is a human rights crisis, and governments at COP28 have a human rights obligation to address climate change.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vivian Nereim contributed reporting from Riyadh.<\/p>\n