This year’s international gathering to tackle the climate crisis will for the first time have a major presence by an organization that sees oil demand rising to mid-century.

For the first time, an organisation that anticipates a rise in oil demand through the middle of the century will have a significant representation at this year’s global summit on the climate problem. According to Secretary-General Haitham Al-Ghais, Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) will have a pavilion at COP28, the United Nations’ premier climate conference, which will take place at the end of November in Dubai. He declared on Tuesday in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, at a Gulf Intelligence forum, “The oil industry will be there at COP and we will be there.” “I hope that everyone will have a seat at the COP28 table”, he added.

The presence of the oil industry at COP28 and the UAE’s choice to name Sultan Al Jaber, the Head of Abu Dhabi National Oil Co., as the summit’s president has drawn a great deal of criticism. The third-largest producer in OPEC, the UAE, is increasing its ability to pump petroleum. According to OPEC’s World Oil Outlook, oil consumption would increase 16 per cent over the following two decades to reach 116 million barrels per day in 2045, or nearly 6 million more barrels per day than originally anticipated. Even as the world transitions away from fossil fuels to prevent catastrophic climate change, OPEC increased its predictions for the world’s oil demand through the middle of the century.

Al-Ghais’ comments were echoed by officials from OPEC member states as well as the chief executives of the world’s top energy companies that have expressed their support for the UAE in hosting the climate summit.

At the ADIPEC Oil and Gas Exhibition and Conference in Abu Dhabi earlier this month, top executives including from Halliburton Co., Exxon Mobil Corp. and BP Plc said they were pleased their voices will be heard at COP this year and that the oil industry was an integral part of the energy transition.