Pre-Cop Briefs from January to August 2023
12 January: COP28 President designation
The president has been named to lead the COP28 global climate talks in Dubai. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber is currently the chief executive officer of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company. He is also the minister for industry and advanced technology for the COP28 hosts, the United Arab Emirates.
2-3 May: Petersberg Climate Dialogue
The 14th Petersberg Climate Dialogue, co-hosted by Germany and the UAE brought together high-level representatives from around 40 countries ranging from vulnerable island nations like the Marshall Islands to high-emitting states such as China, India, and the US, for a round of talks in preparation for the 2023 UN Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC COP 28). Participants discussed a potential “roadmap to get us on track” to reach the 1.5°C goal and outlined solutions this roadmap could highlight.
To ensure sectoral decarbonization and a just energy transition, participants indicated that the roadmap could highlight:
- A goal on renewable energy deployment, combined with a goal for energy efficiency uptake;
- New and sustainable formats for multi-partner investment coalitions;
- Cooperation on grid expansion and integration; and
- Shifting finance from high-polluting sectors to just transition.
5-15 June: Bonn UN Climate Change Conference
COP28 President-Delegate, Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, met with heads of delegations and key negotiating groups including those from the Least Developed Countries (LDC) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS) at the Bonn UN Climate Change Conference, being held in the run up to COP28, emphasizing the need to engage and listen to all voices in the climate change discussion ─ especially those of the Global South. “We will reach out to engage every community, seek to include the active participation of the under-represented, including young people and indigenous peoples. And we will give the space and enabling environment to discuss, debate and align on every mandate across every climate pillar.”
23 June: New Global Finance Pact Summit, Paris
COP28 President-Delegate, Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, addressed the New Global Financing Pact Summit in Paris, targeting global financial reform, and driving more financial resources towards climate action and supporting the most vulnerable communities.
13 July: Ministerial of Climate Action, Brussels
COP28 President-Designate Dr. Sultan Al Jaber outlines an action plan focused on fast-tracking the energy transition, fixing climate finance, focusing on adaptation to protect lives and livelihoods, and underpinning everything with full inclusivity.
Dr. Al Jaber highlighted the inevitability of the essential phase down of fossil fuels and called for a “comprehensive transformation” of climate finance instead of “piecemeal reform,” with a special focus on supporting “climate-positive development” across the Global South. He also urged countries to update their Nationally Determined Contributions by September 2023, far ahead of the 2025 deadline to accelerate action.
This COP28 will be the most inclusive yet, featuring the largest ever youth climate delegate program and a pavilion for Indigenous Peoples, to tap into their concerns and wisdom as they protect 80 per cent of the world’s biodiversity.
21 July: 14th Clean Energy Ministerial, Goa
The COP28 UAE Presidency and the International Energy Agency (IEA) have convened the first in a landmark series of high-level dialogues through to COP28 around building a 1.5C degree-aligned energy transition. The initiative is being conducted in conjunction with the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and will be supported by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
14-18 August: African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN)
Egyptian Minister of Environment Yasmine Fouad called for synergy and unification of African efforts and voices in the upcoming UN Climate Conference (COP 28). Participating as a main speaker in the “Climate Financing and Biodiversity Financing” session, Fouad highlighted the importance of the upcoming event of COP 28 in ensuring the mobilization of $20 billion financing for the Biodiversity Fund and not just focusing on obtaining $100 billion dollars in climate finance.
If you want to know more about DCarbon’s efforts at COP27, click here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1clOylsvJbKKvLpsT4Xadl_xrHFmPOdV-/view?usp=sharing
