COP28 President-Designate Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, addressing the UN Climate Ambition Summit, yesterday, in New York, reminded the international community that “we are not powerless” to overcome the climate crisis and urged the world to “get after gigatons”.
The summit, which is the landmark climate engagement during the United Nations General Assembly, was convened by the UN Secretary-General António Guterres, and was attended by world leaders, the private sector and civil society.
Al Jaber also urged the world to be “brave” and “bold” and get “back on track” to meet its climate ambitions, reaffirming the founding principles of the UN and to think “beyond borders, beyond politics, and beyond our own lifetimes.”
He emphasised that “climate change is our common enemy, and we must unite to fight it.”
Quoting recent data from the first Global Stocktake, he said: “the world is falling short, and we are running out of time,” adding that it is not too late to change course.
Indeed, he challenged the world to respond to the Global Stocktake with the highest levels of ambition, noting that “We know the size of the problem. The numbers are straightforward: 22 gigatons. That’s the amount of greenhouse gas emissions we need to cut in the next seven years to keep 1.5 within reach.”
Dr. Al Jaber went on to speak of the need for the international community to “remember that we are not powerless. As we have seen throughout history, when we act with optimism, urgency and solidarity, we can overcome even the most daunting challenges.”
Ahead of the upcoming COP28, the global climate summit in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Al Jaber noted, “We are working tirelessly to advance an ambitious climate agreement between all 198 Parties.
However, climate change won’t be solved through agreement alone. It can only truly be addressed through Action. That’s precisely what we aim to achieve through the COP28 Action Agenda.”
We know the size of the problem. The numbers are straightforward: 22 gigatons. That’s the amount of greenhouse gas emissions we need to cut in the next seven years to keep 1.5 within reach.
Energy transition
To get the world “back on track” to the 2015 Paris Agreement, he called on the world leaders to make actionable commitments across its key pillars: to fast tracking a just and orderly energy transition, fix climate finance, focus on lives and livelihoods, and underpin everything with full inclusivity.
Al Jaber reiterated that the “phase down of fossil fuels is essential. It is in fact inevitable. And it must go hand-in-hand with a rapid phase up of zero carbon alternatives.”
Accordingly, he called on Parties to do their part towards a “massive expansion of renewable energy” and triple global capacity to 11TW by 2030, adding that energy efficiency is “the simplest cheapest and fastest way to dial down emissions.”
He equally charged parties to be “brutally honest about what it will take to transition heavy emitting sectors” which cannot run on renewables alone, while noting the need to develop the entire hydrogen value chain, even as he stressed the need to restore trust between Parties and for contributing countries to deliver the $100 billion pledge this year.
On people, lives and livelihoods, Al Jaber noted that “people everywhere want the same things: clean water, clean air, economic opportunity, safety in the storm, and called on countries to “double adaptation finance by 2025, replenish the Green Climate Fund, and operationalize the fund for Loss and Damage with early pledges.”
Declaring that COP28 will be the most inclusive conference, he urged leaders to “turn pledges into projects and ambition into action.”
“Action builds hope and hope builds action. Let us create that positive feedback loop. Let us be brave. Let us be bold. Let us do what is right and let us do what is necessary. Let’s activate a truly global response to the Global Stocktake, and let’s get back on track,” he ended.
