Climate goals risk being held back by red tape, Al Jaber says

Dr Sultan Al Jaber, President-designate of the Cop28 summit, has called for developing nations to get access to funding to ensure they are not priced out of pursuing climate goals.

Some countries face being “held up in bureaucratic red tape”, he said.

Dr Al Jaber, who is also Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and special envoy for climate change, called for urgent reforms of the world’s financial institutions to help drive investment towards environmental policies.

The Minister has consistently raised the alarm in recent weeks over the need to turn talk into action to protect the planet.

The international community will gather at Cop28 at Expo City Dubai in November for a global stock-take of environmental targets and to develop a blueprint for a more sustainable future.

“For developing countries, climate finance is nowhere near available, affordable or accessible enough,” said Dr Al Jaber at a climate finance conference organised by Prime Minister Mia Mottley of Barbados.

“Even when funds are allocated, they get held up in bureaucratic red tape and don’t get to where they need to go. And as a result, both climate and development goals are at risk.

“If the world does not come up with effective mechanisms to deliver climate finance to developing and emerging economies, they will have no choice but to choose a carbon-intensive development path.”

Ms Mottley unveiled the Bridgetown Initiative at Cop27 in Egypt, which set out plans for a radical overhaul of financial frameworks to fund climate action around the world.

Dr Al Jaber said that Ms Mottley had helped set the tone for climate finance at Cop27.

The Bridgetown Initiative had “without a doubt placed a focus on the fact that IFIs and MDBs [international financial institutions and multilateral development banks] are not keeping pace with the challenges of the 21st century”, he added.