Sultan al-Jaber, president of the COP28 climate talks and head of the United Arab Emirates’ national oil company, called for “available, accessible and affordable” finance for developing economies most vulnerable to the destructive impacts of climate change. Speaking at the G7 climate and environment ministers meeting in Japan, Al-Jaber urged prioritizing support for poorer countries. He emphasized the need to provide a fair deal for the Global South when it comes to climate finance.
Al-Jaber, also the UAE’s minister for industry and advanced technology and founder of the government-owned renewable energy company Masdar, affirmed that ambitious plans to fight global warming need to be supported with pragmatic, actionable plans enabled by accessible finance. COP27 in Egypt saw a landmark agreement to create a “loss and damage” fund for developing countries to cover climate-related destruction costs.
In a closed-door address to the G7 climate ministers, al-Jaber called for developed countries to fulfill their promise of providing $100 billion a year to developing nations to combat climate change and triple the amount of money available for clean tech investment, adaptation finance, and energy transition in these countries by 2030.
The G7’s latest draft climate statement reaffirms its commitment to the $100-billion pledge, which dates back to COP15 in Copenhagen in 2009, and promises to work with other developed nations to meet this goal in 2023.
Image Credit: AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili, file
