Dr Sultan Al Jaber, the UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, UAE Special Envoy for Climate Change, and the UAE COP28 President-Designate, announced on Saturday that the UAE has invested $50 billion in renewable energy globally and plans to invest an additional $50 billion in the coming years. He stated that the goal of COP28 is to transform systems and accelerate 2030 trajectories through game-changing partnerships, solutions, and outcomes. Al Jaber hopes that COP28 will be a COP of Solidarity that bridges the Global North and South, and includes public and private sectors, scientists and civil society, women and youth.
“Al Jaber, newly appointed as the president of COP28, highlighted the importance of a comprehensive and action-oriented approach in addressing climate change during his inaugural speech. He stressed the need for raising ambitions and transitioning from goals to implementation in areas such as mitigation, adaptation, finance, and loss and damage, with a focus on inclusivity and system transformation.”
As the CEO of ADNOC and the founder and chairman of Masdar, Al Jaber stated that he will continue to work towards cleaner energy and invest in future clean energy sources. He also mentioned that over 70% of their economy is now generated outside of the oil and gas sector and they will use their experience, ambition and partnerships to guide their approach at COP28.
At the Atlantic Council Global Energy Forum, Al Jaber emphasized the importance of increasing the use of various clean energy sources, such as renewables, nuclear energy, hydrogen, carbon capture, energy efficiency, and low-carbon oil and gas, as well as new technologies yet to be implemented. He specifically called for a threefold increase in renewable energy generation, from 8 to 23 terawatt hours by 2030 and a more than doubling of low-carbon hydrogen production to at least 180 million tons for hard-to-abate sectors.
The CEO of ADNOC emphasized the importance of taking action to protect vulnerable communities and critical systems from the impacts of extreme weather and biodiversity loss. He highlighted the need for investing in nature-based solutions, such as mangroves, which can effectively capture carbon and at the same time safeguard coastlines and preserve natural habitats.
Al Jaber emphasized the need for doubling adaptation finance for the Global South to $40 billion annually by 2025 in order to advance progress. He also said that in order to achieve this, every dollar of concessional financing needs to be matched by 2 to 3 dollars of private capital and called for reform of multilateral development banks and international financial institutions. He also mentioned that as the UAE is chair of the World Bank-IMF development committee and host of COP28, it will play a proactive and facilitating role in building bridges and pursuing global consensus on this matter.
