Key business and philanthropy leaders joined with leaders of multilateral development banks and political leaders from emerging economies at COP28 on Saturday, to announce a range of initiatives aimed at harnessing the resources of business and philanthropy for climate action.
The second day of the inaugural COP28 Business and Philanthropy Forum included key announcements on preserving nature, energy transition alongside a methane abatement accelerator and an initiative to decarbonize health supply chains.
The day was opened with a keynote address from Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, who gave insights into how business and philanthropy leaders can work with global organizations to catalyze a just transition to a greener economy.
There were also sessions on the impact of philanthropy, featuring, Bill Gates, the co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates; Dr. Precious Motsepe, co-founder and chief executive, Motsepe Foundation; and Abdul Aziz Al-Ghurair, chairman, Abdulla Al-Ghurair Foundation for Education.
A discussion on transition funding, involving Odile Renaud-Basso, president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development; Dilhan Pillay Sandrasegara, CEO of Temasek Holdings; and Dr. Andrew Steer, president and CEO of the Bezos Earth Fund, also explored the distinctive blended finance platform championed by Ahmed Saeed, CEO of Allied Climate Partners, and International Finance Corporation as one of the investors.
With opening remarks from Jesper Brodin, chief executive, Ingka Group, IKEA, the forum also hosted a key discussion on energy, which explored how the sector and other heavy emitting industries can work with policy-makers to galvanize broad action to advance the just energy transition and reduce emissions, whilst providing accessible energy to support the development of all economies and people. The session featured high-level speakers including Mohamed Jameel Al-Ramahi, chief executive, Masdar; Marco Arcelli, chief executive, ACWA Power; and Juliet Davenport, president, The Energy Institute; with closing remarks from Dr. Rajiv Shah, president, The Rockefeller Foundation.
Commenting on the forum and the role the private sector has to play in climate and nature, COP28 Special Representative for Business and Philanthropy and Chair of the COP28 Business and Philanthropy Climate Forum Badr Jafar said: “Governments simply do not have the available capital or capacity to make the climate transition on their
own. To move from the billions we have to the trillions we need, we require urgent, unprecedented, delivery-focused public, business and philanthropic collaboration. The Business and Philanthropy Climate Forum represents a paradigm shift that recognizes this opportunity and connects diverse stakeholders together in a way that creates a multiplier effect on climate and nature impact. The private sector increasingly recognizes that embracing a sustainable and equitable future, leaving no one behind, is the growth story of our time.”
The day also featured sessions on media and climate, harnessing nature for climate impact, the built environment, space and climate, the effects of climate on health, and a pitch session where climate entrepreneurs pitched their ideas to investors.
Among the initiatives announced at the forum were:
Enteric Fermentation R&D Accelerator
Andrew Steer, CEO, Bezos Earth Fund, in partnership with Methane Hub, CIFF, Quadrature Climate Foundation, and Danone announced the $250 million Enteric Fermentation R&D Accelerator, to accelerate methane mitigation in livestock production.
The Data for Methane Action Campaign
Kate Hampton, CEO, CIFF, in partnership with Global Methane Hub, High Tide Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, and Bezos Earth Fund announced The Data for Methane Action Campaign, worth $100 million worth of funding to convert methane data into action.
Join the Planet
Alex Avellanet, board member of Join the Planet, unveiled a global movement committed to repurposing discarded materials into valuable products and reusing them to fund initiatives around the world that can protect, restore and regenerate natural ecosystems through work with local communities. The global movement is supported by the legendary Lionel Messi.
First Movers Coalition
Open remarks were provided by Secretary John Kerry, US special presidential envoy for climate, and Borge Brende, president of the World Economic Forum, for the First Movers Coalition session where CEOs from Volvo Group and Norsk Hydro announced a new partnership to co-develop a roadmap toward supplying near zero-aluminum in 2030.
Health for Climate
Leaders committed to pushing for ambitious net-zero targets across healthcare system supply chains. The health impact of climate change will include more cases of heat stress, infectious diseases, and malnutrition. The initiative, announced by Pascal Soriot, CEO of AstraZeneca, will aim to minimize the contribution of the global health system to the increased health burden it will eventually face.
Nature Positive for Climate Action
Razan Al-Mubarak, president of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and UN Climate Change High-Level Champion, and Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, CBD Nature Action Agenda Champion, announced the impact of the Nature Positive for Climate Action call of over 150 businesses and financial institutions having committed to a call to action to contribute to a whole-of-economy approach to transforming economy/society to meet climate and nature goals — noting it is important to activate the ambition loop to strengthen action from parties and put us on the path to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement, given the results of the Global Stocktake.
The Indigenous Peoples Initiative
Hindou Ibrahim, chair, International Indigenous Peoples Forum on Climate Change, announced a call to action to provide direct financing for indigenous peoples and organizations, to join forces in protecting and restoring nature and biodiversity.
ONE AMAZON and ONE AMAZON Impact Fund
Rodrigo Veloso, founder and CEO, ONE AMAZON, and Peter Knez, chairman, ONE AMAZON, announced the ONE AMAZON and ONE AMAZON IMPACT FUND, which is the world’s first trillion-dollar nature-based asset platform, benefitting all stakeholders while making a lasting impact on Amazon Rainforest preservation.
New Funding on Super Pollutants
Christie Ulman, president, Sequoia Climate Foundation, in partnership with Global Methane Hub and other philanthropies, announced new funding for super pollutants worth $450 million, which will help countries incorporate all non-CO2 GHG2 in their new NDC targets for 2035 and leverage additional resources to triple climate finance in this category by 2030.
