Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, President-designate of COP28 and Special Envoy of the UAE to Japan, met Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi in Tokyo; There he conveyed to them the greetings of the leadership in the UAE and their keenness to strengthen the strategic ties between the two allies. He also discussed climate action and the importance of building a strategic partnership between the UAE and Japan. It currently chairs the Group of Seven, during the preparations for the Conference of the Parties «COP28» and participated in the G7 Ministerial Meeting on Climate, Energy and Environment during the visit to Japan; That too in Sapporo; He emphasized the importance of the Committee presenting a successful model for providing adequate, accessible and affordable climate finance in support of achieving a logical, practical, gradual and fair transition in the energy sector. .

He explained that the world is far from the right path to meet its climate responsibilities, requiring serious and comprehensive reform through the issues of mitigation, adaptation, losses and damages, and financing. Together with the Group of Seven, to bring about a quantum leap in climate change. All climate action tracks. In his address before the ministerial meeting, he said: In line with the vision of the leadership in the UAE, we will ensure that the “COP28” conference is pragmatic, synergistic, hands-on and inclusive. To move in the same direction to achieve our goals, establish partnerships, not fragmentation, and uphold unity, not division.

He invited participants and attendees to adopt an agenda during the conference that would contribute to achieving a quantum leap that would support climate action simultaneously with sustainable economic and social development, leaving no one behind. The Ministerial Meeting on Climate, Energy and Environment is being held as part of the Group of Seven industrialized nations ministerial meeting in Japan this month. This is in preparation for the G7 summit in Hiroshima next May.

• Bilateral meetings

On the sidelines of the meeting, Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber held bilateral meetings with ministers and energy, climate, economic and industrial officials from India, Indonesia, Japan, Canada, France, Germany, UK and the US. . He stressed the need to provide more climate finance to enable a fair and logical transition in the energy sector in emerging economies. He called for the “Group of Seven” to reach agreement on a new mechanism to make progress on issues such as climate finance, mitigation, adaptation and losses and damages. More than a decade of pledges were made to provide $100 billion to developing countries. He pointed to the need to triple by 2030 the amount allocated to investment in clean technology, adaptation financing and a just transition in the energy sector. In order to achieve the simultaneous climate and development goals, the need for a radical reform process of the international financial institutions is not sufficient and easy, or at an appropriate cost.

• $100 billion

He emphasized that the availability of climate finance is one of the most important enablers to implement the necessary measures and to improve the effectiveness of international financial institutions and to fulfill the 100 billion dollars pledged to help developing countries. In his address, he said: “The countries of the Global South are still waiting for developed countries to honor their pledge of $100 billion in climate finance, pledged ten years ago, and these countries are calling for serious and effective action.” I’m talking to you today about improving the efficiency of the international financial institutions and the multilateral development banks, with openness and transparency, saving $100 billion, reducing the deficit by June, and ending this phase. Move towards achieving fundamental reforms that contribute to reducing the risks of climate change and providing more capital. He stressed the need to intensify work to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement, adding that the production capacity of renewable energy should be tripled by 2030 and six-fold by 2040. The production and use of hydrogen fuel markets potential alternatives in emission-intensive sectors and industries, such as carbon capture technologies, and to ensure energy security during the sector’s transition, we must continue to reduce the carbon intensity of existing energy sources.

He said, “We must remember that our enemy is emissions, not energy. To ensure sustainable economic and social development, we need more energy, with less emissions.” He also emphasized the need for unity and cooperation in climate action: the radical change the world needs can only be achieved by including everyone. So no one is left out.

He stressed that the COP28 Conference of Parties will be keen to unite the efforts of North and South, governments and industry sectors, scientific sectors and civil society, and we look forward to adopting the G7 principles and taking the necessary steps. Decade Agreement on Climate. We must maintain the 1.5°C target and ensure sustainable economic and social growth for all people. Remember that our goal is to reduce emissions, not growth and progress. He explained that climate action does not have a one-size-fits-all solution, as different regions and countries have different needs and capacities, and liquefied natural gas is an important transitional fuel in, for example, Asia. The president-designate of COP28 praised Japan’s key role in advancing climate action through the completion of the Kyoto Protocol in 1997, the first international agreement to set binding targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. He said: The Kyoto agreement is a historic milestone in international efforts to address the consequences of climate change. It was an important warning for the need for global climate action. COP28, hosted by the UAE, will follow these efforts. Once global progress is made on implementing the goals of the Paris Agreement, the world will see how far we are from the necessary progress, and we must all respond. So, with a comprehensive, ambitious and bold action plan.