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UAE to host a COP of ‘how’ with ‘new’ focus: Emirati ministers during climate summit
'We need to tackle biggest problems in place: access to technologies, access to financing, an effective mechanism to actually get to carbon neutrality'
Photos by Neeraj Murali
All-inclusive dialogue, shared responsibilities, access to technologies and finance, contributions from the private sector and nurturing talent will be some of the ways to drive tangible changes and secure future of generations to come at UN Climate Change Conference (COP28 UAE), top ministers said in Abu Dhabi.
“Having only a portion and a segment of society and activists being part of the discussion without bringing the industry in is not going to get us an effective solution. And when we talk about effective solutions, we need to tackle the biggest problems in place: access to technologies, access to financing, and an effective mechanism to actually get to carbon neutrality across the world,” Sarah Al Amiri, UAE Minister of State for Public Education and Advanced Technology said during the UAE Climate Tech held at Abu Dhabi Energy Centre.
She highlighted the need for “action on the ground” with implantation of policies from a local and global perspective. Also, she urged developed countries to provide the vulnerable ones with necessary resources to address climate change – an act that the UAE has been doing for a long time.
In the past 15 years, the UAE has invested $40 billion into renewables, and plans to spend $160 billion over the next 30 years. The UAE has already invested $16.8 billion on renewable energy ventures in 70 other countries around the world.
“We will continue investing in it and ensuring that a lot of our partnerships have those underlying elements.”
Al Amiri highlighted the need for a shared sense of responsibility and accountability.
“Let this be the COP of ‘how’. I think the world is facing challenges when it comes to climate that we don’t want our societies to go through. If we’re not able to address real on the ground commitment with actionable programmes, and actionable results that we hold ourselves accountable to, we won’t be able to face the challenge of climate change.”
‘New’ focus on private sector
Meanwhile, Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, UAE Minister of Economy, said that COP28 will project a new aspect, i.e., the role of the private sector in this fight against climate change and global warming.
“For the last 27 meetings of COPs, there’s a lot of ‘how’, but without the ‘new’ stuff that the private sector can bring.”
Al Marri pointed out the establishment of UAE Circular economy Policy, which among other things aims to encourage the private sector to shift to cleaner industrial production methods and techniques including the use of artificial intelligence.
Last year, the UAE Circular Economy Council approved 22 policies to expedite progress of the circular economy transition, and Al Marri said there will be more introduced in the coming years.
Making a call to action, the Minister of Economy noted a need to also focus on nurturing talents and educating them.
“I think there’s a lot of focus on financing and technology, but there’s not enough focus on those who actually are going to do it. And I think that talent is an important aspect.”
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