CLIMATE activists in Africa have accused the United Nations climate agency of allowing corporations with dubious climate credentials to greenwash their polluting activities by taking part in its annual climate conference.

The criticism follows last week’s announcement that oil executive Sultan al-Jaber will lead the next round of UN climate talks, which will be held in the United Arab Emirates in November.

The Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA) termed the move as the lowest moment for the UN agency.

Activists say they are increasingly concerned about oil and gas representatives derailing the agenda of the conference, at which countries try to agree on ways to cut planet-warming activities.

“This is the textbook definition of impunity and conflict of interest,” Mithika Mwenda, PACJA’s executive director said in a statement on Monday on Mr Jaber, in which he also called for the president-designate to step down.

“It is hard to see Mr Jaber leading objective, science-backed negotiations in the interest of the most vulnerable,” he said.

Mr Mwenda added that he feared the talks would be taken over “by vicious fossil companies whose ill-intentions are to derail the transition” to clean energy.

Memory Kachambwa, the executive director of the African Women Development & Communication Network, called Mr Jaber’s appointment “an insult to the collective wisdom of everyone committed to addressing the climate crisis.”

Activists have also raised concerns about the lack of climate cash being delivered to the continent.

Campaigners note that while fossil fuel subsidies and investments in oil and gas are growing in Africa, funding for adapting to climate change and transitioning to renewable energy is still lacking.

Last year, nations agreed that countries vulnerable to climate change should receive money from developed countries that are most responsible for burning up the planet. The details of the fund are being worked out this year.

African climate activists have increased their criticism of industrialised nations and multilateral development banks in the last eight months for their funding of fossil fuels, which campaigners say undermines the 2015 Paris Agreement to limit global warming to 1.5°C since pre-industrial times.

The International Monetary Fund revealed that subsidies for dirty fuels had reached $5.9 trillion (£4.8trn) globally by 2020.

Fossil fuels investments in Africa continue to outstrip renewables and jumped from $3.4bn (£2.7bn) in 2020 to $5.1bn (£4.1bn) in 2022, according to environmental group Urgewald.

Meanwhile, several climate funding promises, such as a $100 billion-a-year (£81bn) pledge to developing countries to help them tackle climate change, have been repeatedly missed.

The International Energy Agency found that Africa’s renewable energy investments need to be doubled if it is to meet its climate targets. 

Africa is home to 60 per cent of the world’s solar resources but only 1 per cent of global installed solar power capacity, the agency reported.