UN climate change summit boss 'completely divorced from reality'

Sultan Ahmed al-Jaber talks at the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition & Conference in Abu Dhabi. Picture: AP 

The president of the UN’s climate change summit has been accused of being “completely divorced from reality” after denying the science that fossil fuels need to be phased out in a robust exchange with former president Mary Robinson.

In a contentious online event before hosting the Cop28 summit in Dubai, UAE, Sultan Ahmed al-Jaber claimed there is “no science” that shows phasing out of fossil fuels will keep global warming to the 1.5C that experts say is needed to stave off the very worst of climate change.