Devex Pro Weekender: Fake news at COP 28, and USAID official steps down

As COP 28 enters full swing in Dubai, the United Nations flagship annual climate conference was hit by fake news last week. On Wednesday, a very convincing-looking press release was emailed to journalists, including at Devex, suggesting that COP 28 President Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber was stepping down from his position as CEO of the state oil company. It followed real news stories that the United Arab Emirates planned to use the meetings to promote deals for its national oil and gas companies, according to leaked documents — allegations that Al Jaber denied. But who was behind the false press release? Their identity remains unknown. There was real job news in the climate world last week, too. The $11 billion Climate Investment Funds announced its new CEO as Tariye Gbadegesin. Currently the CEO of pan-African infrastructure fund ARM-Harith Infrastructure Investment, Gbadegesin will be CIF’s first African leader and is set to take over in March. Meanwhile, Rachel Kyte, the former CEO of Sustainable Energy for All, is heading to Oxford University as a visiting professor. Coming up: Got questions about how to expand your work with USAID? Get tips from Mike Shanley, CEO of Konektid International, in our next Devex Pro event. Also in today’s edition: The USAID official stepping down, WHO says there’s “no excuse,” and how to shift the power. Jessica Abrahams Editor, Devex Pro Bits and pieces Have you heard? For Devex Pro members, my colleague Michael Igoe revealed last week that Sarah Charles, head of USAID’s humanitarian bureau, will step down in January. Why? Mainly due to family commitments — and also because she’s “tired,” she wrote in a relatable message to staff. Best of luck. The European Parliament has adopted a report calling on the European Commission — that’s the European Union’s executive body — to establish a European Centre for Humanitarian Research and Innovation. The parliament says this would be about “bringing together experts from academia and practitioners to foster innovation in the humanitarian sector, notably on access to new sources of finance.” Sounds like a nice idea, and credit to anyone who can discover a new source of finance for humanitarian action at this point. An update. Nearly two months ago, I reported that Shoshan Haran, the co-founder of NGO Fair Planet, which works with smallholder farmers in Ethiopia, was among those kidnapped by Hamas on Oct. 7. I’m pleased to report that she has now been freed along with several family members. No excuse. The World Health Organization has launched a new podcast on sexual misconduct in the humanitarian and development sectors, called #NoExcuse. It says it will “share stories of work in the field, surface obstacles to prevention, and explore making zero tolerance for sexual misconduct a part of workplace culture.” I’m skeptical about how far a WHO-produced podcast can interrogate the agency’s own struggles in this area, and that remains to be seen, but the first episode features a good, punchy interview with Dr. Gaya Gamhewage, WHO’s director for sexual misconduct prevention and response. “There is nobody in WHO, or the U.N., who can say ‘this is nothing to do with me,’” she said. “We have collective culpability.” ✉️ Do you have insights into any of this week’s bits and pieces? Let me know by replying to this email. In memoriam One of the leading members of the European Parliament’s development committee, Michèle Rivasi, died suddenly on Nov. 29. As a member of the Greens political group, Rivasi was particularly vocal about the issues of ecology and environmental protection. After news broke on social media, she was also remembered for her commitment to women’s rights. Hot jobs Your Devex Pro membership includes access to the world’s largest global development job board. To mark COP 28, here are some of the latest high-level job opportunities related to climate and environment: • Director of strategic impact, International Institute for Environment and Development (United Kingdom/hybrid). • Monitoring, evaluation and learning director, Climate Emergency Collaboration Group (United States/remote). • Director of aquatic food systems, The Nature Conservancy (various locations possible). Explore other senior-level openings related to climate. Up next COP 28. Technical dialogues continue this week at the U.N. climate conference in Dubai. The high-level ministerial discussions also begin, including on the new collective quantified goal (if you don’t know what that is, check out my COP 28 jargon buster) and climate finance. If you haven’t already, there’s still time to register for Devex’s summit on Dec. 7 to hear from leaders and get insights from the ground. Until Dec. 12. African vaccines. The African Vaccines Manufacturing Accelerator — a tool designed to support sustainable vaccine manufacturing on the continent — will be submitted this week for endorsement at the Gavi board meeting, which takes place Dec. 6-7. Hygiene. The Global Hygiene Symposium is a three-day event in Singapore, hosted by Chatham House and the Reckitt Global Hygiene Institute. Discussions will center on cross-disciplinary approaches to hygiene and its role in global health security. Dec. 6-8. Digital economy. UNCTAD (that’s the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development, which is in fact not a conference but the U.N. body responsible for promoting the interests of “developing countries” in world trade) is holding its “eWeek”. It explores the development opportunities and challenges associated with the digital economy. Dec. 4-8. Pandemic treaty. The intergovernmental negotiating body on the pandemic accord meets again. Dec. 4-6. Shift The Power. This summit in Bogotá, Colombia, promotes “bottom-up, people-centered” development practices, with sessions on decolonization, regenerating activism, and more. My colleague Helen Murphy will be present and would love to hear from anyone going along. Dec. 5-7. Moving on Satu Santala is the new managing director of the Nordic Development Fund. Santala is Finland’s former director general for development policy and is currently serving as associate vice-president of the external relations and governance department at the International Fund for Agricultural Development. Martin Tisné is appointed CEO of the newly created AI Collaborative, an initiative of the Omidyar Group that aims to help regulate artificial intelligence based on democratic values and principles. He previously served as vice president of civic engagement organization Luminate. Did we miss one? Is there a change on the horizon? Let us know at devexpro@devex.com.