At least 70 governments and 39 organisations have backed the United Arab Emirates declaration on climate, relief, recovery and peace at the ongoing COP28 in Dubai.
The UAE, which holds the COP28 presidency unveiled endorsements of its COP28 UAE declaration as part of its focus on accelerating global efforts to make fragile and conflicted-affected countries more resilient to the impacts of climate change.
COP28 Director-General Ambassador Al Suwaidi said the most fragile communities receive a very small percentage of the climate financing.
He said his mission is to see this practice change for the better.
“Climate change impacts everybody but we are not all being affected equally. In fragile and conflict-affected settings, extreme weather events affect three times as many people annually compared to other countries,” Al Suwaidi said.
"Despite this, people living in extremely fragile states receive a fraction – up to 80 times less – of climate finance compared to those in non-fragile states. The COP28 Presidency is committed to driving action and consensus to change this.”
The Declaration enshrines a collective commitment to increase investment and actions to drive resilience in countries and communities affected by conflict, fragility or humanitarian crisis.
The day also saw the launch of a ‘Getting Ahead of Disasters Charter’ (the Charter), which sets out principles for collaborative action to manage climate-related risks and protect vulnerable populations.
December 3, was also dedicated to health, as part of efforts by the COP28 Presidency to focus global audiences on protecting communities from the threats of climate change.
Ministers of Health and senior health delegates from over 100 countries met to mobilise resources for the ‘COP28 Declaration on Climate and Health’ that was unveiled on December 2, at the World Climate Action Summit.
It was endorsed by over 120 countries and over $1billion of climate health financing was galvanized by partners.
“While we build the energy system of tomorrow, we cannot ignore the needs of people today. We must rapidly protect and promote their health and well-being while improving the climate resilience of healthcare systems and reducing climate-health risks,” Ambassador Al Suwaidi said.
