COP28 President-Designate calls for holistic ecosystem to drive climate action during London Climate Action Week

Connecting policy, technology, finance, and people is essential to keep 1.5C within reach.

Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, COP28 President-Designate, meets with His Majesty King Charles III, UK Government ministers, industry leaders across tech and finance, and university students during London Climate Action Week 2023.
Dr. Sultan Al Jaber renews his call for world leaders to start delivering on climate finance reform and accelerate technology development ahead of COP28.
“We must stop talking and start delivering. Climate finance is nowhere near available enough, accessible enough and affordable enough – especially for countries in the Global South”.
“Money isn’t flowing to the places that need it most. Less than 2 per cent of the $1.5 trillion of clean tech finance was invested in vulnerable and low-income countries across the Global South”.
“We must create an active partnership between the largest producers of energy, the biggest industrial consumers, technology companies, entrepreneurs, the finance community, investors, governments and civil society”.
“It is time to do things differently because we can’t afford to rely on business as usual”.
“Working together, we will narrow the gap to 2030, deliver a just transition, and mobilize all stakeholders in a new way”.
“We will bring everyone the table in a more inclusive process than ever before and institutionalize accountability globally, and within the COP process”.

LONDON, June 29, 2023 /CNW/ — During London Climate Action Week 2023, COP28 President-Designate, Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, traveled to London to collaborate with British stakeholders to develop holistic ecosystems that connect policy, technology, finance, and people. During his visit, he collaborated with the UK Government on polices which enable greater climate investments, he galvanized investors to fund climate technology, and he consulted with youth climate advocates to help shape the COP28 agenda.

HRH King Charles III receives H.E. Dr Sultan Al Jaber, Cop28 President-Designate and the UAE's Special Envoy for Climate Change (PRNewsfoto/COP28)

Dr. Sultan Al Jaber met with a wide range of key stakeholders during a visit to London this week, including H.M King Charles III, the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, the Rt Hon. Grant Shapps MP, and Minister of State for Overseas Territories, Commonwealth, Energy, Climate and Environment, the Rt Hon. Lord Zac Goldsmith, as well as business leaders, university students and young climate advocates.

The COP28 President-Designate attended a roundtable on climate solutions joined by H.M King Charles III and attended by Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London; Rt Hon. Graham Stuart MP, Minister for Energy Security and Net Zero; the Vice-Chancellors of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge; and the CEOs of HSBC, AstraZeneca, OVO Energy, and Gridserve.

During London Climate Action Week, Dr. Al Jaber said, “If we are going to cut emissions by 43 percent in the next 7 years, we need a holistic ecosystem that connects policy, technology, finance and people. We need supportive policies to stimulate adoption of clean energies and incentivize decarbonization. We obviously need to apply the latest technologies rapidly and at scale. That will require finance and lots of capital across the world, and particularly in emerging and developing economies. And a critical success factor is people. We need capacity building, and skills development to train young people for the jobs of the future. Because we must deliver climate action and socio-economic opportunity at the same time.”

“This is a moment of clarity that we must face with total honesty – we need a major course correction, and we need it now. Our goal must be to stop talking and start delivering”.

During his visit, Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, also held meetings with UK Government Ministers from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to discuss key initiatives and areas for collaboration ahead of COP28.

Dr. Sultan Al Jaber also visited Octopus Energy and its founding CEO, Greg Jackson, in their London headquarters. They discussed the latest technologies that support the rollout of renewable energy and storage solutions, improve energy efficiency, and help in the race to net zero.

Masdar, the UAE’s world-leading renewable energy company that Dr. Sultan al-Jaber chairs, has committed to invest £1 billion in British battery storage, following its acquisition of Arlington Energy. Masdar has partnered with Octopus Energy to license its groundbreaking technology platform, Kraken, to manage its battery portfolio at low cost and with maximum efficiency. The platform aims to manage 100,000 devices and 6GW of energy capacity by the end of 2023. This will help bring more renewables onto the grid quicker and drive down prices.

During one of his visit highlights, Dr. Al Jaber attended a roundtable with university students and young climate advocates. Hosted by H.E Shamma Al Mazrui, COP28 Youth Climate Champion, the consultation sought views from young people to shape the agenda at COP28, including how the President-Designate can help to ensure that the process and outcomes can be more inclusive and equitable.

Addressing the youth consultation, the COP28 President-Designate said “your generation is critical, because you will inherit some of the greatest challenges of climate change and will also provide many of the solutions. Your perspectives must be heard. And you must be empowered to make a difference. We need pioneers like yourselves – who are impatient set new benchmarks.”

He also restated his commitment to making COP28 the most inclusive COP ever, by providing “opportunities for youth who have never been included in the process and that come from countries which have seen climate disasters firsthand” through initiatives like the Youth Climate Delegates Program.

In his remarks, Dr. Al Jaber emphasized the need for the voices of young people to be included at COP28 and stated his commitment to called on young people to “bring your passion, your focus and your courage to meet the challenge”, reflecting that “it is time to do things differently because we can’t afford to rely on business as usual”.

Notes to Editors:

COP28 UAE:

COP28 UAE will take place at Expo City Dubai from November 30-December 12, 2023. The Conference is expected to convene over 70,000 participants, including heads of state, government officials, international industry leaders, private sector representatives, academics, experts, youth, and non-state actors.
As mandated by the Paris Climate Agreement, COP28 UAE will deliver the first ever Global Stocktake – a comprehensive evaluation of progress against climate goals.
The UAE will lead a process for all parties to agree upon a clear roadmap to accelerate progress through a pragmatic global energy transition and a “leave no one behind” approach to inclusive climate action.

Youth Climate Delegate Program

Through the International Youth Delegates Program we will support 100 youth to join us from small island developing states, least developed countries and indigenous communities from around the world.
Further information on the Youth Climate Delegates can be found on the COP28 website – https://www.cop28.com/en/youth-delegates

Masdar UK investment

Dr. Sultan al-Jaber was the founding CEO of Masdar, the UAE’s leading renewable energy company, and still serves as its chairman.
In October 2022, Masdar acquired Arlington Energy, a UK-based battery energy storage system developer.
Masdar has committed to invest £1 billion in UK battery storage.
In May 2022, Masdar and Octopus Energy Group signed an agreement to use Octopus’ groundbreaking technology platform, Kraken, to manage its battery storage portfolio in the UK.

Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2144423/HRH_King_Charles_III_for_Climate_Change.jpg