Be prepared for next pandemic, WHO chief tells Dubai summit
▶ World Governments Summit told ‘troika’ of Emirates, Azerbaijan and Brazil will stand on Cop28’s shoulders
Countries’ leaders must work together to ensure the planet is better prepared for a future pandemic, World Health Organisation director general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said yesterday in Dubai.
Speaking on the opening day of the World Governments Summit, Dr Tedros urged nations to learn from the mistakes that were made around the globe during the Covid-19 pandemic that swept the world four years ago.
“In the aftermath, millions of people are dead, with social, economic and political shocks that reverberate to this day,” said Dr Tedros.
Nations should commit to a treaty aiming to build an international framework to protect themselves when another pandemic arrives, he said.
“There will be a next time,” warned Dr Tedros, at the gathering of global leaders in Madinat Jumeirah. “The cycle of panic and neglect is beginning to repeat.”
He denied claims the treaty would take lockdown controls away from sovereign states.
The three-day summit is bringing together more than 25 heads of state and governments, 120 government delegations and more than 85 international organisations.
Mohammed Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs and chairman of the World Governments Summit, opened the gathering on a positive footing, as he noted that illiteracy had been “eradicated in 86 per cent of the global population”.
“It is imperative that we keep our sights set on a brighter and more beautiful future, one that we can proudly pass on to future generations,” he said.
But Rwandan President Paul Kagame had a warning for world leaders, saying that society is not learning from history. He suggested the genocide that hit his nation in the 1990s – when more than 800,000 were killed – was an example of the world failing to use such a tragedy as an opportunity to ensure that no such disaster ever happens again.
“You see so many things happening that [it makes you ask] – were lessons learnt?
“Not just in Gaza, but other conflicts. We should be learning from history,” he said.
The UAE Cop28 presidency has launched a partnership with Azerbaijan and Brazil, the next two hosts of the climate conference, to help to keep the 1.5°C climate goal within reach.
The group, referred to as the Cop presidency troika, intends to increase co-operation and ensure continuity between the hosts of the annual climate talks in what is being called “mission 1.5°C”.
Announced yesterday, the troika aims to ensure the world escapes the worst of global warming by limiting it to an increase of 1.5°C on pre-industrial levels.
“Cop28 delivered a ground-breaking Cop that culminated in the UAE Consensus,” said Dr Sultan Al Jaber, Cop28 President, at the World Governments Summit in Dubai.
“The troika helps ensure we have the collaboration and continuity required to keep the North Star of 1.5°C in sight – from Baku to Belem and beyond.”
The Cop28 deal was formally referred to as the Global Stocktake, under which countries were called on to “transition away” from fossil fuels in what was arguably the most significant step for global climate action since the 2015 Paris Agreement. If global temperatures rise by more than that, the lives and health of billions of people could be endangered, scientists believe.
“We will be working together through the Cop presidencies troika, with our friends in Baku and Brazil, to ensure that promises made in Dubai are fulfilled through closer, focused partnerships and credible support to enable delivery,” said Dr Al Jaber, who is also Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and managing director and group chief executive of Adnoc.
The message from Cop28, however, was also that the world was still not on track amid repeated UN warnings that the planet could be headed for warming of 3°C.
That is where the troika comes in, to drive momentum of successive summits.
Cop29 in Baku is expected to focus on finance and how to help get funds to those who need it most on the front lines of climate change. Desertification and drought is also set to be on the agenda.
At Cop30 in Brazil, countries will come with new national climate action plans, known as “nationally determined contributions”.
Cop29 president-designate Mukhtar Babayev, also Azerbaijan’s Minister for Ecology and Natural Resources, said it was crucial to unlock funds and provide for those nations most in need.
“We are committed to leveraging our strength as a bridge-builder between the developed and developing world as host of Cop29, to accelerate efforts to keep 1.5°C in reach,” said Mr Babayev.
“Key to that will be establishing a new climate finance goal that reflects the scale and urgency of the climate challenge. And equally important, unlocking those funds and getting them to the nations that need them most.”
Marina Silva, Brazil’s Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, said the last opportunity to keep 1.5°C within reach had to be taken.
“We need to make the most of the opportunity that this troika of Cop presidencies presents: to ensure that in these coming two years we will be able to do what science tells us we have to, in the last window of opportunity to achieve the 1.5°C ambition,” she said.
The troika helps ensure we have the collaboration and continuity required to keep the North Star of 1.5°C in sight DR SULTAN AL JABER Cop28 President