The London meeting was aimed at achieving consensus and building momentum on several topics to be addressed at COP26, including mitigation, adaptation and climate finance….reports Asian Lite News
Dr. Sultan bin Ahmed Al Jaber, the UAE’s Special Envoy for Climate Change and Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, met his counterparts in London for high-level talks ahead of November’s COP26 climate change summit in the UK.
During the ministerial gathering, which included ministers from 40 countries, and in meetings with UK officials and business leaders on the sidelines, Dr. Al Jaber took the opportunity to advance the UAE’s progressive agenda on climate action tied to economic growth.
Dr. Al Jaber said, “Our leadership firmly believes that proactive climate action is a powerful engine of economic growth. In line with this vision, the UAE has always been a regional leader, as the first the first country in the region to sign and ratify the Paris Agreement and the first in the region set an economy-wide reduction in emissions by 2030, as part of our second nationally determined contribution (NDC).”
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He said UAE is keen to partner with the rest of the world to share best practices, technology and innovation, “ensuring we fast track efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change in ways that deliver real and substantial social and economic benefits.”
The London meeting was aimed at achieving consensus and building momentum on several topics to be addressed at COP26, including mitigation, adaptation and climate finance.
At the meeting, Dr. Al Jaber discussed global efforts to enhance climate change resilience and adaptability, as well as efforts to leverage clean technologies to enhance global growth. In particular he referenced the Agriculture Innovation Mission for Climate (AIM-C) initiative, announced at the Leaders Summit on Climate in Washington last April.
AIM for Climate, of which the UAE is a founding member, alongside the United States, aims to significantly increase innovation and R&D spending on agri-tech initiatives aimed at enhancing food and water security, reducing emissions from agriculture and providing new climate friendly industries.
He also reaffirmed the UAE’s offer to host COP28 in 2023, underlining the UAE’s commitment to a consultative multilateral process aimed at speeding consensus. In May, the country announced its bid to host the 28th Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP28) to the UNFCCC in Abu Dhabi in 2023.
The move received a positive response worldwide given the UAE’s track record on clean tech innovation and the country’s considerable expertise as a global climate action convener. He also noted that the UAE would ensure that COP28 is a springboard for progressive climate action that delivers both social and economic dividends.
On the sidelines, Dr. Al Jaber also held bilateral meetings with COP26 President Alok Sharma, US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, John Kerry, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa, Md. Shahab Uddin, MP, Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Bangladesh and Jong-Moon Choi, Vice Foreign Affairs Minister of the Republic of Korea.
In those meetings, he highlighted the UAE’s keenness to partner for progress, leverage climate action for economic opportunity and play a constructive role through multilateral cooperation within all relevant international forums, including the UNFCCC.