The UAE is facing increasing scrutiny for its increasingly imperial foreign policy. It participated in the Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen and backs a separatist movement in the former South Yemen.

More controversial is its alleged support for the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) that are battling the Sudanese military. The RSF’s campaign for control of Sudan has reached genocidal proportions, with nearly 30,000 killed in the city of El Fasher in only a few days, according to Minni Minnawi, the governor of Darfur region, where El Fasher is located.

For Canada to announce that it is seeking closer ties to the UAE at this moment looks ignorant at best and callous at worst. There are also serious questions as to what benefits this will bring Canada. While the UAE does invest in green energy projects around the world, the Canadian government is signaling that liquefied natural gas (LNG) is to be part of this new relationship. Ottawa is signaling that LNG will feature in this new relationship, a strange move if Canada is serious about its decarbonization commitments.

The idea of natural gas as a “bridging fuel” between dirtier fossil fuels like coal and renewables is largely a mirage. Recent research on China — the world’s biggest coal consumer and LNG importer — finds that rising LNG imports have not reduced or slowed the country’s coal usage and still plays only a marginal role in its power mix. Instead, it is wind and solar that are squeezing coal out, and these renewables are now cheaper than gas-fired power.