Abu Dhabi: For Egypt and the UAE, as hosts of COP27 and COP28 UAE respectively, the renewed urgency in how the two nations approach climate change has reaffirmed their resounding commitment to encourage closer cooperation and generate greater climate progress.
As part of concerted efforts to work together and strengthen global climate action, the UAE will host one of the most diverse national delegations at COP27, representing more than 70 public and private entities.
Aligned with the COP27 theme of “Together for Implementation”, the UAE delegation will highlight the nation's deep commitment to inclusivity and ambition, by including our senior leadership, government representatives and policymakers, negotiators, business leaders as well as representatives of women and youth groups.
The UAE is committed to working closely with the Egyptian COP Presidency to help mobilise international support, while drawing global attention to the developing world, particularly African nations.
With climate change impacting all countries coupled with the urgent need to do more, the UAE believes access to clean technologies and climate solutions is critical. Accordingly, we must deploy them at a global scale.
At COP27, the UAE is supporting the Egyptian COP Presidency in driving forward renewable energy technologies to help fast track the global energy transition and meet net zero targets.
To enable this transformation requires substantial investment in net-zero infrastructure.
With the world needing an estimated $275 trillion over the next 30 years to reach Net Zero by 2050, countries must collectively work together with the public and private sector to explore innovative financing mechanisms that will scale up finance and support the global energy transition.
The UAE is also focusing on progress toward a Global Goal on Adaptation, which must be brought to the foreground of the negotiations at COP27 and COP28 to end the old tug of war between accelerating the reduction of emissions or building global climate resilience. The UAE has been clear that the global mission must be to do both.
As the UAE engages with countries to scale international assistance, especially to the most vulnerable communities, it will build on the momentum of COP27 for COP28, the Emirates Climate Conference in 2023, by aligning global climate ambition with global climate action.
At COP28, ambition and inclusivity will be core components of catalysing collective action with practical solutions to climate change, while contributing to global, sustainable economic and social development.
This is where the UAE will help deliver the first Global Stocktake of climate progress since the Paris Agreement. The Emirates Climate Conference will be asking every nation to report on, or update their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) for the first time since they set them in 2020.
In this regard, the UAE updated its second NDC last month. This aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 31% in 2030, up from the previous commitment of a 23.5% reduction.
With the renewed urgency to combat climate change, fresh pressure is being placed on all countries to work closer together.
Regionally, the UAE and Egypt are maximising their efforts to mitigate and adapt to the risks of climate change and leverage sustainable economic growth.
Collective action is needed to scale up assistance to the whole of the international community. No region should be left behind in the transition.