A Climate Conflict of Interest?

Available for over a year

The COP summit is where world leaders get together every year to chat about climate change. This year's meeting is being held in the United Arab Emirates, one of the world's top 10 oil-producing nations. A petrostate hosting a climate conference was always going to raise some eyebrows, but the event has become even more controversial. A BBC investigation has found leaked documents that suggest the UAE has been planning ahead of the event to meet world leaders and discuss business opportunities for its state oil company. The UN body responsible for the COP28 summit says hosts are expected to act without bias or self-interest. The UAE team did not deny using COP meetings for business talks, and said "private meetings are private". It declined to comment on what was discussed in the meetings and said its work has been focused on "meaningful climate action". In this episode of our 5 Minutes On podcast, the BBC's Climate Editor Justin Rowlatt explains exactly what the investigation has unearthed. (Image: Getty Images)