Dr Al Jaber calls for increase in public and private finance to aid Africa’s climate fight

Dr Sultan Al Jaber, Cop28 President-designate, yesterday called for more public and private finance to help the countries of Africa tackle climate change.

The continent has “huge potential for low-carbon growth and sustainable development”, Dr Al Jaber, who is also Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, said at the African Development Bank 2023 Annual Meetings in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.

“But one critical challenge stands in its way – and that is the lack of available, accessible, affordable finance. And this lack of finance is putting the world’s climate goals and Africa’s sustainable development at risk,” he said, state news agency Wam reported.

“Cop28 is exploring additional mechanisms to supercharge the flow of private finance to Africa.”

The African Development Bank’s 2023 meetings focus on using private sector finance for climate and green growth in Africa, stressing the urgency of the climate crisis.

Dr Al Jaber has called on developed nations to provide the $100 billion in climate finance they pledged more than a decade ago.

“Failure to do so has undermined trust in the multilateral process, which must be restored,” he said. “There are some encouraging signals coming from donor countries on this front, which I hope will soon be followed by action.”

The UAE will host the UN Cop28 climate change summit in November.

About 70,000 delegates are expected to attend, including world leaders, government officials, leaders of industry, the private sector and experts on climate.

Africa has tremendous renewable energy potential, including 7,500 gigawatts of solar power and 1,800 gigawatts of wind power.

Tapping into this would be transformational for the continent, but the International Renewable Energy Agency found 2 per cent of global investments in renewable energy projects in the past two decades went to those in Africa.