The oil and gas industry is being made a scapegoat by some who accuse it of pollution, Qatar Administrative Control and Transparency Authority chairman HE Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah stated yesterday.
COP18/CMP8 Higher Organising Committee members HE Dr al-Sada and HE al-Midhadhi at the agreement signing ceremony yesterday
“Oil and gas does not mean pollution. There are other pollutants. Blaming is easy, especially to blame others for one’s own problems,” he observed.
HE al-Attiyah, a former minister of energy and industry, was speaking at a ceremony where he signed the Host Country Agreement for the 2012 sessions of the UN Climate Change Conference, scheduled in Doha from November 26 to December 7.
“We have to be pragmatic. We need a mix of energy sources. Qatar should have a big future in solar (energy). Qatar is the biggest producer of LNG, the cleanest fuel,” he said.
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change executive secretary Christiana Figueres clarified that fighting climate change is fighting emissions and not oil and gas.
Speaking later to Qatar News Agency, HE al-Attiyah explained that Qatar will continue to play the role of a mediator and facilitator and help bring together the international community for talks in its fight against global warming and climate change.
Commonly referred to as COP18/CMP8, the 2012 sessions will mark the 18th Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC and the 8th session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the parties to the Kyoto Protocol.
HE al-Attiyah, who is also the incoming COP18/CMP8 President, asserted that he will do his best to encourage all members, associations and groups to talk.
“We know it is not all that easy with the prevailing differences. Canada and Japan were part of the Kyoto Protocol and now they are not, the US has never been a part of Kyoto.
“Now there’s an agreement to extend the Kyoto Protocol and there has been a discussion to implement it for five to eight years.
“We will encourage Canada, Japan and even the US as well as the European Community and all the groups to talk; because without talking, we cannot go forward.
“I’m very optimistic we will do our best to encourage all to talk with each other and try to bring them to the roundtable,” al-Attiyah added.