Saudi Aramco employee named lead author of global climate report

Babiker’s nomination by the Saudi government, first reported by POLITICO in July, was greeted with concern by climate advocates, who described it as an example of corporate interference in the scientific process. 

“The fossil fuel industry and its captive political allies will do everything in their power to try to undermine climate science. The global community must be more diligent than ever in order to protect the credibility and integrity of the [IPCC],” former U.S. Vice President Al Gore said last month in a social media post, responding to news that Babiker had been nominated for the role.

At the time, the Saudi delegation to the U.N. climate bodies defended Babiker, a researcher with extensive credentials who has contributed to past IPCC reports. “His extensive academic and professional experience … make him exceptionally qualified to serve in this role,” a spokesperson said. The government did not respond to a request on Monday to add to those comments.

In a statement released Monday confirming Babiker’s role as a leader among 664 experts chosen to write the report, IPCC Chair Jim Skea said: “The author teams, drawn from several thousand excellent nominations, ensure outstanding expertise across a range of disciplines. We are proud that the new author teams reflect increased diversity, in terms of both gender balance and greater representation from developing countries and economies in transition.”

Babiker will co-lead the work on a chapter of the report dealing with the “policies and governance and international cooperation” aimed at curtailing fossil fuels use and other sources of global warming. The chapter will explicitly touch on the role of “non-state” actors, including corporations.

Saudi Aramco, according to the NGO Influence Map, is the greatest corporate contributor to climate change in history, thanks to the emissions from the oil and gas it has extracted.