His Excellency Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, President-Designate of COP28 Conference of the Parties and Special Envoy of the UAE to Japan, visited Tokyo to meet the Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi. His Excellency conveyed the greetings of the leadership in the UAE and emphasized the importance of strengthening strategic relations between the two countries.
In addition, the two sides discussed climate action and the significance of building on the strategic partnership between the UAE and Japan. The latter currently chairs the Group of Seven, making it an opportune time to prepare for the upcoming COP28 Conference.
During his stay, His Excellency also attended the ministerial meeting of the seven major industrialized countries (G7) in Sapporo. In a speech he gave, he emphasized the importance of the group presenting a successful model for providing climate finance in an adequate, accessible, and affordable manner. He pointed out the world is still far from fulfilling its climate commitments; hence, radical and comprehensive correction is necessary through mitigation, adaptation, losses and damages, and financing.
He invited the attendees and participants to work together to adopt an agenda that contributes to achieving a quantum leap during the conference in support of climate action and sustainable economic and social growth, leaving no one behind.
On the sidelines, he held bilateral meetings with ministers and officials from India, Indonesia, Japan, Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America. He stressed the need to provide more climate financing to enable a just and logical transition in the energy sector in emerging economies.
He called on the “Group of Seven” to reach agreement on a new mechanism for climate finance across the issues of mitigation, adaptation, and losses and damages. His Excellency also stressed the need to intensify work to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement.
His Excellency explained that there is no “one-size-fits-all” solution in climate action, due to different needs and capacities in different regions and countries. He lauded the prominent role played by Japan in advancing climate action through the completion of the Kyoto Protocol in 1997, and the COP28 conference will follow up on these efforts.
His Excellency Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, President-Designate of COP28 Conference of the Parties and Special Envoy of the UAE to Japan, met in Tokyo with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi, where he conveyed to them the greetings of the leadership in the UAE and its keenness to strengthen strategic relations. between the two friendly countries; His Excellency also held discussions on climate action and the importance of building on the strategic partnership between the UAE and Japan, which currently chairs the Group of Seven, during the preparations for the COP28 Conference.
During his visit to Japan, His Excellency participated in the ministerial meeting of the seven major industrialized countries (G7) on climate, energy and the environment in Sapporo, where he delivered a speech in which he stressed the importance of the group presenting a successful model for providing climate finance in an adequate, accessible and affordable manner, in a way that supports Achieving a logical, practical, gradual and fair transition in the energy sector.
His Excellency explained that the world is far from the right track to fulfill climate commitments, which requires a radical and comprehensive correction through the issues of mitigation, adaptation, losses and damages, and financing, reaffirming the keenness of the COP28 Presidency to cooperate and work closely with the Group of Seven to bring regarding a quantum leap in all aspects. Climate Action Pathways.
In his speech before the ministerial meeting, he said: In line with the vision of the leadership in the UAE, we will make sure that the COP28 conference focuses on practical aspects, uniting efforts, joining hands, and including everyone, because we need to move in the same direction in order to reach our goals, and to establish partnerships and not to divide, and to Devote agreement, not division.
His Excellency invited the attendees and participants to work together to adopt an agenda that contributes to achieving a quantum leap during the conference in a way that supports climate action in conjunction with sustainable economic and social growth, leaving no one behind.
The ministerial meeting on climate, energy and the environment is part of a series of ministerial meetings of the Group of Seven industrialized countries to be held in Japan this month, in preparation for the next G7 summit to be held in Hiroshima next May.
On the sidelines of the meeting, His Excellency Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber held bilateral meetings with ministers and officials of energy, climate, economy and industry from India, Indonesia, Japan, Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States of America, during which he stressed the need to provide more climate financing to enable A just and logical transition in the energy sector in emerging economies.
His Excellency called on the “Group of Seven” to reach agreement on a new mechanism for climate finance to make progress across the issues of mitigation, adaptation, and losses and damages. He said: We need to reach a more equitable financing agreement for the countries of the global south, that offers more than just providing the required resources to those who need them most, and developed countries must first fulfill their pledges that they made more than a decade ago by providing $ 100 billion to developing countries.
He pointed to the need to increase the amounts allocated for investment in clean technology, adaptation financing, and a just transition in the energy sector in developing countries and emerging economies three times by 2030, explaining that climate financing is not currently available, neither in an adequate and easy manner, nor at an appropriate cost, and stressed the need for a process Radical reform of international financing institutions to simultaneously achieve climate and development goals.
His Excellency stressed that the availability of climate finance is one of the most important enablers for implementing the necessary measures, stressing the need to develop the performance of international financing institutions, and to fulfill the $100 billion pledged to help developing countries.
In his speech, he said: The countries of the Global South are still waiting for developed countries to abide by their pledge to provide $100 billion for climate finance, which was pledged more than ten years ago. These countries are calling for radical and effective development of the performance of international financing institutions and multilateral development banks. Adding: Allow me to speak to you today with transparency and frankness. Let us save the $100 billion, and make sure to bridge the deficit by June and finish this stage in order to move towards achieving fundamental reforms that contribute to reducing the risks of climate change, providing more concessional capital, and attracting More capital from the private sector.
His Excellency also stressed the need to intensify work to progress towards achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement, and added: We need to increase the production capacity of renewable energy three times by 2030, and six times by 2040, and we need government legislation to stimulate and market applicable alternatives in energy-intensive sectors and industries. emissions, such as the production and use of hydrogen fuel, carbon capture technologies, and we must continue to reduce the carbon intensity of existing energy sources to ensure energy security during the sector transition.
He said: The global energy system will include, during the coming decades, both low-emission hydrocarbon resources, clean and renewable energy in its various sources, and peaceful nuclear energy, and we must increase investment in reducing emissions and raising the efficiency of all energy sources, and we must remember that our opponent is emissions, not energy, we need To more energy, with less emissions to ensure sustainable economic and social development.
His Excellency stressed the need for solidarity and cooperation in climate action, saying that “the radical transformation that the world needs will only be achieved by containing everyone, so that no one remains on the sidelines,” and stressed that “COP28 will make sure to unify the efforts of the north and south, governments and sectors.” industrial, scientific fields and civil society, and we look forward to the Group of Seven adopting policies and taking the necessary measures to reach an agreement on the climate decade We must maintain the 1.5°C goal and ensure sustainable economic and social development for all peoples, and we must remember that our goal is to reduce emissions, not slow down rates of growth and progress.
His Excellency explained that there is no “one-size-fits-all” solution in climate action, because there are different needs and capabilities for different regions and countries, and that liquefied natural gas, for example, is an important transitional fuel in Asia.
The President-designate of COP28 lauded the prominent role played by Japan in advancing climate action, through the completion of the Kyoto Protocol in 1997, which is the first international treaty that sets binding targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
His Excellency said: The Kyoto Protocol was a historic milestone in the international efforts to confront the repercussions of climate change, as it was an important alert to the need for global climate action, and the COP28 conference hosted by the UAE will follow up on these efforts. When the global tally of progress in implementing the goals of the Paris Agreement is achieved, the world will see how far we are from the required progress, and we must all respond with a comprehensive, ambitious and bold plan of action.
His Excellency Dr. Sultan Al-Jaber arrived in Japan from the US capital, Washington, following his participation in the spring meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund, where he renewed the call to develop the performance of international financing institutions to support economic growth and climate action simultaneously, with a focus on meeting the needs of the countries of the global south.
In conclusion, His Excellency Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber’s visit to Japan reinforced the UAE’s commitment to strengthening strategic relations between the two friendly countries and promoting global climate action. Through his participation in the ministerial meeting of the Group of Seven industrialized countries, His Excellency emphasized the importance of providing climate finance and adopting practical measures for achieving a logical, practical, gradual, and fair transition in the energy sector. His Excellency’s frankness and transparency in his speech highlighted the urgent need for radical and comprehensive reform of international financing institutions to simultaneously achieve climate and development goals. As the President-designate of COP28, His Excellency’s vision for the upcoming conference is to unify the efforts of the north and south, governments, and sectors to achieve sustainable economic and social development for all peoples. With the continued dedication and cooperation of world leaders like His Excellency Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, we can move towards a better and sustainable future.
