The President-designate for COP28 UAE, Dr Sultan Al Jaber, has made a case for a pro-growth, pro-climate agenda to support an inclusive energy transition that leaves no one behind.
COP28 will take place at Expo City Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) from November 30–December 12, 2023. As mandated by the Paris Climate Agreement, COP28 UAE will deliver the first ever Global Stocktake — a comprehensive evaluation of progress against climate goals.
Speaking at India Energy Week in Bengaluru at the Asian Ministerial Energy Roundtable, Al Jaber noted India’s strong recovery from the COVID pandemic and that the world’s fastest growing major economy was dealing with the central question of how to embed sustainable, environmentally friendly growth into its development model.
The roundtable was convened by the International Energy Forum (IEF), which strives to facilitate a constructive dialogue between energy producing and consuming nations to promote inclusive sustainable development.
According to Al Jaber, the size of the challenge was matched by the size of the economic opportunity giving the significant rise in investment in renewable energy in recent years and India’s drive to add 500 GW of clean energy by 2030, adding that the UAE was keen to partner with India and the world on advancing clean energies.
“We have spent the last two decades diversifying our energy portfolio. We’ve invested in nuclear, we are investing in hydrogen, and we are expanding our global renewable energy footprint to at least 100 GW by 2030. And we need everyone on this journey with us, so that together we can triple global renewable energy capacity over the next 7 years,” said.
Access to energy
Al Jaber reiterated that policies should take into account the fact that too many people, particularly across the global south still have no or very limited access to energy.
“To succeed, when the debate around climate change only seems to be getting more divisive, we must act in solidarity and unity. We must empower the Global South, where almost 800 million people have no electricity, in an inclusive energy transition. We must eliminate energy poverty, while keeping 1.5 alive.
“And we need to move from talking about goals, to getting the job done. That is why we are calling for COP 28 to be a COP of Action and a COP for All. This is the decade where we must stop deliberating and start delivering across mitigation, adaptation, climate finance and loss and damage.
“The size of this challenge is immense, but so is the opportunity,” he said.
We must empower the Global South, where almost 800 million people have no electricity, in an inclusive energy transition. We must eliminate energy poverty, while keeping 1.5 alive.
The COP President-designate underlined the complexity of the energy transition as a system-wide rewiring of global economies, and noted that despite the impressive growth of wind and solar power, renewable energy by itself would not be sufficient, particularly to transition hard to abate industries.
“Without a breakthrough in battery storage, we must invest heavily in carbon capture, nuclear power and the hydrogen value chain. But spending on these fundamental enablers of decarbonisation are less than 5 per cent of what is spent on renewables. This must change. And when it comes to change, this also applies to the oil and gas industry.
“The world still needs hydrocarbons and will need them to bridge from the current energy system to the new one. We cannot unplug the current energy system before we have built the new one. As such, we must minimize their carbon footprint, only invest in the least carbon intensive barrels and continue to reduce their intensity.”
Inclusive effort
He argued that the energy transition will require every segment of society working together in an inclusive effort, particularly the energy industry. “It’s not a conflict of interest, it is in our common interest to have the energy industry working alongside everyone on the solutions that the world needs.”
Al Jaber stressed that every stakeholder who can contribute should be included to make faster progress through partnership, adding that climate and energy transition progress must be inclusive and deliver a fair deal to the Global South.
“The energy transition has the potential to generate the greatest leap in economic prosperity since the first industrial revolution. But it must be fair. It must be just. And when it comes to the Global South, they have seen little justice so far. We must address this head on.
“Previous climate finance pledges made by the world have come with a price tag, or not at all. Those pledges must be honoured. At the same time, we must expedite reform of international financial institutions and MDBs. We need to get more concessional finance to vulnerable communities around the world to lower risk, attract more private finance and turn billions into trillions.
“Capital is also key to fully operationalize the loss and damage fund and to double adaptation finance in communities that are most exposed to the effects of climate change, but have done the least to cause it.”
The COP 28 UAE is expected to convene over 70,000 participants, including heads of state, government officials, international industry leaders, private sector representatives, academics, experts, youth, and non-state actors.
