"The United Arab Emirates has hired a strategic communications firm to “counteract all negative press and media reports” about its role in hosting the next United Nations climate summit, known as COP28, according to federal disclosure filings reviewed by The Climate 202.

The contract with First International Resources comes as the UAE faces a barrage of negative headlines over its decision to name an oil industry executive as president of the global climate gathering. Activists have called the move to appoint Sultan Al Jaber, who runs the state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Co., “tantamount to putting the head of a tobacco company in charge of negotiating an anti-smoking treaty.”

First International Resources will aim to tell a different narrative.

The New Jersey-based firm will seek to “reinforce attitudes among decision makers in Washington, DC and across Europe regarding the strategic value of the UAE in the global fight to address climate change,” according to the filings under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which were filed Friday."

Analysis by Maxine Joselow for the Washington Post August 9, 2023. [2]