The president of the United Nations annual climate summit planned to use the talks to lobby dozens of countries and business leaders to increase exports of oil and gas, according to leaked documents obtained by media outlets this week .

Dubai is preparing to host the 28th Conference of the Parties, or COP, this week, which will see hundreds of world dignitaries and envoys meet to discuss the growing threat of a warming world. The president of COP28 is Sultan Al Jaber , the CEO of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, or ADNOC, which provides about 3% of the worlds oil.

The Centre for Climate Reporting and the BBC obtained briefing documents from a whistleblower that suggests Al Jaber and his colleagues planned to discuss fossil fuel exports with nearly 30 foreign nations between July and October. Its unclear how often those interests were discussed, but the outlets report at least one nation followed up on the commercial discussions.

The team representing the UAE at the climate talks told the BBC private meetings are private when asked about the leaked briefing documents, but did not dispute that it planned to discuss business interests.

Dr Sultan [Al Jaber] holds a number of positions alongside his role as COP28 President-Designate, a spokesperson for COP28 told the Centre for Climate Reporting. That is public knowledge. Private meetings are private, and we do not comment on them.