DUBAI’S COP28 LEGACY INSPIRES AS WORLD URGED TO ACT AS ONE
▶ Leaders say pledges made in UAE last month must be brought to fruition to tackle climate change
The need to tackle the looming climate catastrophe was once a fringe topic in Davos, where the world’s elites gather to talk about wealth creation.
However, this is no longer the case. The urgent need for every section of global society to act – including those attending the World Economic Forum – has been high on the agenda this week.
John Kerry, the US envoy for climate change, said that for 28 years of Cop climate summits “every nation had to make up its own plan – not exactly the most effective thing”.
“In Dubai, we were able to change that paradigm to some degree, with one critical paragraph. That paragraph was that we must transition away from fossil fuels,” he said, referring to the deal reached at December’s climate summit.
The agreement to fight to keep global warming within 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, to phase down fossil fuels over 30 years, and to radically cut emissions by 2030 were pledges reached in the UAE that were unachievable in previous summits, he said.
“When you add all that together and 195 countries have signed off on this – that is a profound, important paradigm shift. Everybody is working to a stronger guardrail, if you will, which is that we must achieve by 2030 the 45 per cent minimum reduction [in emissions] globally and do other things.”
Speaking at a separate session, he said: “We are in better shape to take this issue to where it needs to go than we have ever been.”
Reaching net zero will require about $3 trillion of investment every year to cut emissions, reverse nature loss and restore biodiversity to Earth. However, it is a collective effort. If developing nations are left to fall behind, then the goal fails.
“Cop28 demonstrated that multilateralism can still deliver historic results. However, it must work for all regions and peoples of the world, not just some,” said Badr Jafar, Cop28’s special representative for business and philanthropy, and chief executive of oil and energy company Crescent Enterprises.
Mr Jafar added that this was “why the central theme put forward by the Cop28 Presidency was that the process must leave no one behind”.
Governments and private enterprises alike must look hard at how they channel enormous amounts of money into renewables, how to clean up polluting industries and how they create a green workforce of the future, as jobs linked to traditional industries decline.
Although 195 countries backed the response to the Global Stocktake, named “The UAE Consensus”, the summit ended with critical issues deferred to Cop29 in Baku.
These include how rich countries help poor countries pay to invest in renewables and set up physical defences to cope with rising sea levels and extreme weather.
Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency, told a session that climate change has to be at the forefront of decisions made by those in government.
“There are five conditions to consider Cop28 to be successful. Number one, we should get an outcome that the countries pledge to triple their renewable capacity,” he said.
“Number two, doubling the rate of energy efficiency. Number three, agreeing to have a major cut of methane emissions. Number four, countries should give a signal of an orderly move away from fossil fuels. Number five, providing financial support for clean energy transition in emerging and developing countries.
“I see that many of them have now been reflected in the outcome text and for that, we are really delighted.
“There are, of course, other areas, one area especially, which are not there, and in my view, it is a fault line in our fight against climate change, which is the financing issue.”
Discussions in Davos also turned to what the technology industry must do to manage the significant amount of renewable energy they expect to be generated in the future.
Catherine MacGregor, chief executive of Engie, a low-carbon energy services company,
said that storage of clean energy was one of the main focuses for her industry.
“A lot more needs to happen, particularly around what we like to call flexibility – means to store energy at large scale: a very important component,” she said.
“You cannot just rely on sun or wind, you have to be able to store this energy when there is too much of it.” Ms MacGregor
said the outcomes at Cop28 were “really exciting” after years of climate summits that had fallen short of expectations.
Critical to climate change action is big businesses investing in clean industries of the future. Ahmed Al Calily, chief strategy and risk officer at Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala, told The National, that governments and companies must put net-zero principles, responsible investing and a clean future at the heart of their strategies.
“Cop28 is done, but the important part is that we keep to our promises,” he said.
“Everyone has a part to play. We’ve all made commitments – binding commitments to achieve net zero, 1.5°C. The next step is how to stick to those commitments and make it happen.”