The
host and President of COP28 President, Sultan Al Jaber says the annual climate
summit taking place in Dubai has already made history. He told Journalist that more than $83 billion
had been mobilized during the first week of the conference.
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Unlike
at past Climate conferences, countries, businesses, and development institutions
among others have made pledges towards climate initiatives like disaster response
and technology investments among others.
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Sultan
Al Jaber told journalists that the conference has so far achieved consensus on
loss and damage. Loss and damage refers to the negative consequences that arise
from the unavoidable risks of climate change like floods, crop failures and
bushfires among others.
At
Dubai, leaders agreed to put more in a fund aimed at providing financial
assistance to nations most vulnerable and impacted by the effects of climate
change.
The fund is to be operationalized by the World Bank for two years.
“ I believe
that with the momentum we have, with the action-oriented mindset that has been instilled
across the board, I believe we can achieve consensus again,” said Al Jaber as
he and ministers into the actual negotiations from Saturday.
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“Here
is where the work really begins and without the cooperation and collaboration, we
can not and will not succeed” he noted.
The hard
part of the summit normally happens when Ministers from the 190 state parties
to the Climate Change Convention meet. Political issues tend to emerge at that
stage.
As the
ministers prepared to meet, over 1000 people wrote a letter to the COP28
President and all State Parties urging for a rapid response to the global stocktake
as required by the Paris Agreement.
They
suggested an orderly phase-out of all fossil fuels in a just and equitable way,
in line with a 1.5C trajectory – whilst ensuring the tripling of global
renewable energy capacity by 2030 from 2022 levels and the doubling of energy efficiency.
They
also demanded a
halt and reversal of deforestation and land degradation as well as biodiversity
and other ecosystem loss by 2030 safeguarding the territories of indigenous
peoples; ensuring resilient food systems and delivering a strong global goal on
adaptation.
With
the letter in mind, Sultan Al Jaber stated that “I will spend every moment focused
on enabling, facilitating, and supporting the most ambitious outcome. And I am
very optimistic that the new spirit we have generated here is helping to make
this COP a transformational COP. A COP that has the potential to change the
game.
Simon Stiell, the UN Framework
Convention on Climate Change Executive Secretary told journalists that COP28 must be about solutions to
get all countries out of this climate mess.
“That is my central focus: solutions,
acceleration, the highest ambition here at COP, and a springboard for the
crucial years ahead. COP28 must deliver a big switch: not just ‘what’ governments
must do, but also ‘how’ to get the job done” he said
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“If we
want to save lives now, and keep 1.5 within reach, the highest ambition COP
outcomes must stay front and center in these negotiations. So I urge
negotiators to start with the highest ambition outcome and for them to ask,
“How do we get there?”
He urges all ministers and negotiators to think outside the box. Climate
action needs that paradigm shift. “Yes,
eight billion people are now on the frontlines. But bold climate action is also
a momentous opportunity: An opportunity for more jobs, healthier economic
growth, less pollution, and better human health. This is what billions of
people in every country want, and bolder climate action is the chance for
governments to deliver it here in Dubai”
