Why the Gulf’s oil powers are betting on clean energy

THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES sits on a rich fossil bounty. ADNOC, the national oil company, is one of the world’s top hydrocarbon producers. Two months ago the uae hosted some 140,000 delegates at the planet’s largest oil-and-gas jamboree. Against the backdrop of the worst energy crisis in decades, you might have expected much gloating about how the Persian Gulf’s carbon-spewing exports helped avert a bigger shock. That made the keynote address by Sultan Al Jaber, the UAE’s minister of industry, all the more remarkable. Mr Al Jaber repeatedly highlighted the importance of greening this brownest of industries. “ADNOC is making today’s energy cleaner while investing in the clean energies of tomorrow,” he intoned.