Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber ( ar, سلطان أحمد الجابر, born August 31, 1973) is a Cabinet Member and Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology of the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

, Managing Director and Group

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of the

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company ( ar, شركة بترول أبوظبي الوطنية) or ADNOC is the State-owned oil company of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It is the world's 12th largest oil company by production. As of 2021, the compan ...

(ADNOC Group), the Chairman of

Masdar Masdar,(Arabic:مصدر‎), also known as the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company, is a UAE-government owned renewable energy company based in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Masdar is a subsidiary of Mubadala Development Company and was founded by ...

, and the United Arab Emirates' special envoy for

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

Early life and education

Al Jaber was born on 31 August 1973 in the

. He holds a

BSc A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

Chemical Engineering Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials int ...

from the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and a

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

in business and economics from

Coventry University , mottoeng = By Art and Industry , established = , type = Public , endowment = £28 million (2015) , budget = £787.5 million , chancellor = Margaret Casely-Hayford , vice_chancellor = John Latham , students = () , undergr ...

in the United Kingdom and an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

from the

California State University at Los Angeles California State University, Los Angeles (Cal State LA) is a public university in Los Angeles, California. It is part of the 23-campus California State University (CSU) system. Cal State LA offers 142 bachelor's degrees, 122 master's degrees, ...

. His education in the United States was financed by a scholarship provided by the

(ADNOC).

Business career

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company

Al Jaber began his career as an engineer at ADNOC. He was appointed as the CEO of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) on 15 February 2016. Since then Al Jaber has publicly listed several ADNOC businesses, while also attracting some $26 billion in international investment from companies such as

BlackRock BlackRock, Inc. is an American Multinational corporation, multi-national investment company based in New York City. Founded in 1988, initially as a Enterprise risk management, risk management and fixed income institutional asset manager, BlackR ...

, Eni, and

KKR KKR & Co. Inc., also known as Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., is an American global investment company that manages multiple alternative asset classes, including private equity, energy, infrastructure, real estate, credit, and, through its strateg ...

. In February 2019 Al Jaber signed a $4 billion agreement with BlackRock and KKR to invest in the development of midstream oil pipeline infrastructure. A consortium of six companies signed an agreement in July 2020 to invest $20.7 billion in ADNOC infrastructure assets. It was the single-largest energy infrastructure investment ever in the Middle East, and the largest in the world for 2020 at the time. Al Jaber led the first IPO of an ADNOC business, ADNOC Distribution (ADNOCDIST:UH) in 2017. As head of ADNOC, Al Jaber has sought to increase ADNOC's output of crude oil from 3 million barrels of oil a day in 2016 to 5 million by 2030. The ''Financial Times'' wrote that Al Jaber's attempts to increase oil output was "particularly stark" given that he holds the role of climate tsar in the UAE and given that fossil fuel industries have pressure to reduce output in order to mitigate climate change. Under Al Jaber, ADNOC has invested in

carbon capture Carbon capture may refer to: * Carbon capture and utilization, where the captured carbon dioxide is used * Carbon sequestration, where the captured carbon dioxide is stored ** Carbon capture and storage, referring to carbon sequestration from point ...

and

green hydrogen Green hydrogen (GH2 or GH2) is hydrogen generated by renewable energy or from low-carbon power. Green hydrogen has significantly lower carbon emissions than grey hydrogen, which is produced by steam reforming of natural gas, which makes up the b ...

projects, while also committing to power its operations with

renewable energy Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. It includes sources such as sunlight, wind, the movement of water, and geothermal heat. Although most renewable energy ...

sources. The company plans the large scale production of

hydrogen fuel Hydrogen fuel refers to hydrogen which is burned as fuel with oxygen. It is zero-carbon, provided that it is created in a process that does not involve carbon. It can be used in fuel cells or internal combustion engines (see HICEV). Regarding hydr ...

as a clean energy fuel to replace oil exports.

Masdar

Al Jaber was involved in establishing Masdar in 2006, serving as the CEO of DB Masdar Clean Tech Fund L.P.,

Masdar Institute of Science and Technology The Masdar Institute of Science and Technology was a graduate level, research-oriented university focused on alternative energies, sustainability, and environmental research. In 2017, it merged with two other institutions in Abu Dhabi, Petroleum ...

and Masdar Venture Capital. He has been the Chairman of Masdar since March 2014 and served as CEO and Managing Director before.

Board positions

Al Jaber is chairman of the Emirates Development Bank, the board of trustees of the

Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence Mohamed Bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) is a graduate-level, research-based academic institution located in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The current president, Professor Eric Xing, joined in January 2021. Sir J. Micha ...

, ADNOC Distribution PJSC, ADNOC Drilling PJSC, and Fertiglobe PJSC. He is a member of the Abu Dhabi Supreme Council for Financial and Economic Affairs, and the ADNOC board of directors, the boards of trustees for the Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy, and

Khalifa University Khalifa University ( ar, جامعة خليفة) is a public research university located in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. It was ranked as the 181st best university in the world by QS world university rankings of 2023. Founded in 2007 by a decr ...

, and the boards of

First Abu Dhabi Bank First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) ( ar, بنك أبوظبي الأول) is the largest bank in the United Arab Emirates. It was formed following a merger between First Gulf Bank (FGB) and National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD). FAB offers financial solutio ...

Emirates Global Aluminium Emirates Global Aluminium ("EGA") is owned equally by Mubadala Investment Company of Abu Dhabi and Investment Corporation of Dubai Investment Corporation of Dubai is a sovereign wealth fund of the Government of Dubai established in 2006, wit ...

, and the

Emirates Investment Authority The Emirates Investment Authority (EIA) is the only sovereign wealth fund of the federal government of the United Arab Emirates. It was established in 2007, the EIA has actively sought unique investment opportunities locally, regionally and inter ...

. He is also the vice chairman of the Al Jazira Sports & Cultural Club board and a member of the Emirates Diplomatic Academy Board of Trustees. He has previously been chairman of the board for the

Abu Dhabi Ports AD Ports Group ( ar, مجموعة موانئ أبوظبي; formerly Abu Dhabi Ports Company and ADPC) serves as the region's premier facilitator of logistics, industry, and trade, as well as a bridge linking Abu Dhabi to the world, the Group op ...

, from 2009 until 2019, the UAE National Media Council from 2016 to 2020, the Abu Dhabi Media Investment Corporation (ADMIC) and

Sky News Arabia Sky News Arabia (stylised as Sky News عربية) ( ar, سكاي نيوز عربية ') is an Arabic 24-hour rolling news channel broadcast mainly in the Middle East and North Africa. It is a joint venture between UK-based Sky Group and Abu Dha ...

. He also formerly served on the boards of ALDAR Sorouh, and ZonesCorp.

United Arab Emirates government minister

On 12 March 2013, Al Jaber was named Minister of State and joined the United Arab Emirates

Council of Ministers A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...

. Al Jaber's appointment was approved by Sheikh

Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan ( ar,  خليفة بن زايد بن سلطان آل نهيان‎; 7 September 1948 – 13 May 2022) was the second president of the United Arab Emirates and the ruler of Abu Dhabi, serving f ...

, the UAE's president. Speaking of the appointment of Al Jaber and other ministers,

Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum ( ar, محمد بن راشد آل مكتوم, links=no; ; born 15 July 1949) is the Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, vice president, prime minister, and minister of defence of the United Arab Emir ...

, the UAE’s Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, said the new cabinet has “young faces with new ideas and energy to keep up with the rapid changes and to deal with our people’s top priorities." Al Jaber's responsibilities include UAE’s economy, politics, development, media, energy, infrastructure and sustainability. He held his position as Minister of State until July 2020, when he was appointed as minister of Industry and Advanced Technology. In July 2020 Al Jaber was appointed Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology. The new ministry, itself established in July 2020. In November 2020 he was appointed as the special envoy for climate change to represent the UAE in all international forums on this issue.

Energy and climate change

In 2009, Al Jaber was appointed by

United Nations Secretary General The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or SG) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the six principal organs of the United Nations. The role of the secretary-ge ...

Ban Ki-Moon Ban Ki-moon (; ; born 13 June 1944) is a South Korean politician and diplomat who served as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations between 2007 and 2016. Prior to his appointment as secretary-general, Ban was his country's Minister ...

to his Advisory Group on Energy and Climate Change (AGECC), which published its final report in 2010. The recommendations from this report formed the basis of the

Sustainable Energy for All Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) is an international organization working in partnership with the United Nations, leaders in government, the private sector, financial institutions and civil society with as goal to drive further, faster action ...

initiative launched in 2011. In 2008, Al Jaber spearheaded the establishment of The Zayed Future Energy Prize, an annual US$4 million award funded by the United Arab Emirates to recognize excellence in renewable energy and sustainability. In 2018 the award was renamed the Zayed Sustainability Prize. In 2009, as CEO of Masdar, he helped bring the headquarters of the

International Renewable Energy Agency The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) is an intergovernmental organization mandated to facilitate cooperation, advance knowledge, and promote the adoption and sustainable use of renewable energy. It is the first international organis ...

(IRENA) to the UAE. Al Jaber has advocated for a global approach to addressing climate change at international forums such as the

Munich Security Conference The Munich Security Conference (MSC; german: Münchner Sicherheitskonferenz) is an annual conference on international security policy that has been held in Munich, Bavaria, Germany since 1963. Former names are ''Wehrkundetagung'' and ''Münchner ...

, where he spoke in February 2022, stressing that responding to climate change can lead to diversified economic growth. He has also emphasized the key role national hydrocarbon producers should play in the energy transition, arguing that the least carbon-intensive barrels will be required for the foreseeable future. During Al Jaber's tenure as special climate envoy to the

UN Framework Convention on Climate Change The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) established an international environmental treaty to combat "dangerous human interference with the climate system", in part by stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations in the ...

(UNCCC) for the UAE, the organization chose the UAE as the host for the 28th session of the

Conference of the Parties A conference of the parties (COP; french: Conférence des Parties, CP) is the supreme governing body of an international convention (treaty, written agreement between actors in international law). It is composed of representatives of the memb ...

(COP28) in 2023.

Honors

In 2013 Al Jaber was appointed Commander of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(CBE). In that year he also received Mauritania's Medal of the National Order of Merit. In 2019, he received the “International Lifetime Achievement Award” from Prime Minister

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament from ...

of India. In 2021, Al Jaber was named ‘Energy Executive of the Year’ by Energy Intelligence.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jaber, Sultan Ahmed 1973 births Living people Emirati Muslims University of Southern California alumni Alumni of Coventry University California State University, Los Angeles alumni Emirati chief executives Chief executives in the energy industry Industry ministers of the United Arab Emirates