Take action to keep climate goal in reach, urges Al Jaber

Wam

• Al Jaber at the International Energy Agency
• Nationally Determined Contributions a priority
• IEA will monitor countries’ compliance

The UAE consensus achieved at the Cop28 summit in Dubai set a clear roadmap for keeping global temperature rise to within 1.5C. Now the world must turn the plan into action and results, said Cop28 president Sultan Al Jaber. 

Al Jaber told the International Energy Agency roundtable in Paris on Tuesday that all stakeholders must work on enhancing their nationally determined contributions (NDCs) – plans for climate change adaptation and mitigation – ahead of the next cycle in 2025. 

“They need to adopt comprehensive, economy-wide emission reduction targets that cover all greenhouse gases and that are aligned with the science, and that keep 1.5 within reach,” the UAE’s representative said.

• UAE maintaining Cop28 momentum with ‘Troika’ partnership 
• ‘Those who pledged, must act,’ says Al Jaber as Cop28 begins
• Historic deal struck at Cop28 to ‘transition away’ from fossil fuels

From March 1, the IEA will monitor countries’ compliance with their pledges in coordination with the United Nations. “We are also going to support the countries’ NDC formulation,” announced Fatih Birol, the IEA’s director. 

Among the deals struck in Dubai were a commitment from nations to transition away from fossil fuels, a goal to treble global renewable energy capacity, end deforestation by 2030 and reduce methane emissions.

“All industries should tap into their talent and balance sheets to decarbonise at a much larger scale,” said Al Jaber. However, this must be accompanied by smart policy incentives to commercialise nascent zero-carbon alternatives for heavy industry, such as hydrogen. 

To bridge the gap between Cops, last week the UAE envoy formed a ‘Cop Presidencies Troika’, or group of three, with future hosts Azerbaijan and Brazil.

The participants said finance is the key enabler of positive change, pointing out that there is a need to work on policies and incentives to activate all sources of capital.

Cop28 mobilised $85 billion in new pledges and commitments from multiple sources, and launched Altera, the world’s largest private investment vehicle for climate action. “But we need trillions, not billions,” said Al Jaber.

For this purpose, the IEA announced it would be working on innovative financial mechanisms to reduce the cost of capital in emerging and developing countries and support energy transition in the Global South.