DUBAI: The approach of the UAE, as the host country of the UN climate conference, or COP28, in November, will be to apply a positive mindset and promote partnership, the World Government Summit heard on Tuesday.
“The UAE approaches climate change with humility, a clear sense of responsibility and a great sense of urgency,” D. Sultan Al-Jaber, the UAE’s minister of industry and advanced technology and COP28 president-designate, told a large audience attending the second day of the WGS.
Addressing the session titled “The roadmap to COP28: prioritizing action,” Al-Jaber stressed the need to make substantial progress through partnerships, political will and unified climate action.
He said: “The international community must fulfill the commitments it made more than a decade ago. It is necessary to reform the international financial institutions and multilateral development banks to secure more concessional financing, reduce risks, and attract more private sector financing and direct it to the communities most vulnerable to the repercussions of climate change.”
The world is far from achieving the goal of avoiding a rise in the planet’s temperature above 1.5 degrees Celsius, he said, emphasizing the need for new methodologies to move away from simply setting goals to implementing them through adaptation, financing and the mitigation of losses and damages.
Global emissions must be reduced by 43 percent by 2030, Al-Jaber said. “Therefore, we need a fundamental change in our path. The methodologies that we were applying go back to a different stage, and some of these methodologies are no longer valid for the desired goals,” he added.
Al-Jaber stressed the need to accelerate action at a time of global economic uncertainty, heightened geopolitical tensions and mounting pressures on energy security.
He told the WGS: “We must fundamentally transform the entire industrial systems that still rely on energies dating back to the first industrial revolution.”
During the session, the Emirati minister emphasized that ensuring affordable access to capital is essential to achieving comprehensive climate progress.
“One of the most important pillars for moving from setting goals to implementing them is capital allocation. It is also a key factor for adaptation, as we need to double the annual funding allocated to protecting communities most vulnerable to the repercussions of climate change, investing in nature-based solutions, preserving rainforests and protecting biodiversity,” he added.
He said that he would be developing an inclusive roadmap for the COP28 conference focusing on practical results and will cooperate with Shamma Al-Mazrouei and Razan Al-Mubarak, two pioneering figures in climate action, as well as the COP28 office team, to mobilize collective efforts and bring all stakeholders together around a solutions-focused agenda.
Artificial intelligence is reshaping the relationship between humans and machines, rendering industrial processes faster and smarter and making energy more efficient and cleaner, Al-Jaber noted.
“We now have an unprecedented opportunity to engage the energy sector in a technological revolution that will lead us to a positive climate future. Certainly, our common interest requires that the energy sector work hand in hand and alongside everyone in order to reach the solutions that the world needs,” he said.
Al-Jaber reaffirmed that the COP28 presidency will listen to all parties and expressed his confidence that open and constructive dialogue will achieve the progress the world needs.
