• UAE says Al Jaber will be the first CEO to ever serve as COP President, saying he had played a key role in shaping the country’s clean energy pathway.
• Al Jaber has been tasked with developing the COP28 agenda in partnership with UNFCCC chief Simon Stiell and Egypt’s CoP27 President Sameh Shoukry.
Image: HANDOUT
UAE has named Sultan Ahmed al Jaber to lead this year’s CoP28 summit.
Through a statement on Thursday, UAE Deputy Prime Minister Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan appointed Jaber as the leader of the team for COP28 UAE.
The summit will take place in Dubai from November 30 to December 12, 2023.
Al Jaber will serve as COP President and has been tasked with developing the COP28 agenda, in partnership with UN Framework Convention on Climate Change chief Simon Stiell and Egypt’s CoP27 President Sameh Shoukry.
Also named in the team are UAE Minister of State for Youth Affairs Shamma al Mazrui and president of the International Union for Conservation of Nature Razan Al Mubarak, as the Youth Climate Champion and UN Climate Change High-Level Champion, respectively.
UAE said being the first country in the Middle East to ratify the Paris Agreement, to commit to an economy-wide reduction in emissions, and the first to announce a Net Zero by 2050 strategic initiative, it is committed to raising ambition in the decade for climate action.
“The UAE is honored to have been endorsed as the host for COP28. Its bid for this role was rooted in its commitment to global responsibility and climate action in recognition of the critical importance of COP28 as the first Global Stocktake (GST) review since the Paris Agreement.
"As such, the UAE has appointed a strong and diverse leadership team to support practical, inclusive, and transformational progress as the outcomes of a successful COP28,” UAE said in the statement.
Al Jaber, the Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology said UAE is approaching COP28 with a strong sense of responsibility and the highest possible level of ambition.
“In cooperation with the UNFCCC and the COP27 Presidency, we will champion an inclusive agenda that ramps up action on mitigation, encourages a just energy transition that leaves no one behind, ensures substantial, affordable climate finance is directed to the most vulnerable, accelerates funding for adaptation and builds out a robust funding facility to address loss and damage,” he said.
“I sincerely believe that climate action today is an immense economic opportunity for investment in sustainable growth. Finance is the key that can unlock climate action and the UAE is committed to supporting and facilitating the review of the international financial institutions to scale up public financing, leverage private finance and improve access."
He has served as Special Envoy for Climate Change for two terms (2010–16, 2020–present) and played a proactive participatory role at over 10 COPs, including the historic Paris COP21 in 2015.
UAE said Al Jaber will be the first CEO to ever serve as COP President, saying he had played a key role in shaping the country’s clean energy pathway.
“Throughout his career, he has pioneered a practical and responsible approach to accelerating the energy transition that embraces climate action, energy accessibility, energy security and economic growth,” the statement said.
As the founding CEO of Masdar, UAE said, he has overseen its mandate to accelerate the adoption of renewables within the UAE, across the region and globally.
“In his current role as CEO of ADNOC, he is spearheading decarbonizing and diversifying the company’s operations and investments in a drive to make today’s energies cleaner while investing in the clean energies of tomorrow,|” it added.
The Middle East country said the appointment of Al Mazrui was designed to elevate the global youth voice throughout the COP process and ensure young people’s skills and abilities are prioritised.
Mazrui is also the vice chairperson of the Arab Youth Center, the secretary general of the Education and Human Resources Council and Special Olympics UAE, as well as President of the National Centre for Education Quality.
On the other hand, Al Mubarak has been mandated to strengthen engagement and mobilize efforts from non-state actors, including private sector partners, cities and other sub-national governments, indigenous peoples, and civil society.
She is currently the President of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, leading their campaign to preserve the world’s biodiversity.
“The COP28 leadership team will be supported by the entire UAE Government, with Her Excellency Mariam Almheiri, Minister of Climate Change and Environment, continuing to engage in her critical capacity leading the UAE’s domestic efforts in addressing climate change, preserving the environment and food systems transformation,” the statement added.
UAE said it 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.
It was one of only two dozen countries to revise its climate targets, raising its 2030 reduction target from 23.5 per cent to 31 per cent by 2030 in response to the challenge to all nations to accelerate progress at COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland.
To date, the UAE says it has invested $50billion in renewable energy in 70 countries and has pledged to invest over $50 billion in clean energy projects at home and abroad over the next decade.