Documents have been leaked showing plans to discuss fossil fuel sales with fifteen other countries. The UN body responsible for the summit stated that the hosts had to act without bias or self-interest. The UAE team did not deny using the climate summit for business talks and instead said that the “private meetings are private.”

The documents were obtained by independent journalists at the Center for Climate Reporting. The documents were prepared ahead of the COP28 summit by the UAE’s team for meeting with representatives from at least 27 other foreign countries. The documents included “talking points” including one for China which says that Adnoc, the state oil company of the UAE, was “willing to jointly evaluate international LNG opportunities.” The documents also suggest telling a Columbian minister that Adnoc would be willing to support Columbia in developing fossil fuel resources. There are 13 other countries included in the document which have talking points suggesting that Adnoc wants to work with them to develop fossil fuel projects.