Ministers and international officials confirm achievements and successes of first week of COP28

Ministers and international officials confirmed that the achievements and successes of the first week of the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) mark a new phase in the history of climate action under the leadership and efforts of the United Arab Emirates.

They added in statements to the Emirates News Agency (WAM) on the sidelines of COP28, that the conference succeeded in being a launchpad for a new era of global climate action, in light of the announced pledges, contributions and new initiatives.

The conference succeeded in its first five days in collecting pledges of more than $83 billion, in addition to 11 pledges and declarations that were issued and received widespread support and global praise from different countries, parties and participating entities.

COP28 saw the introduction of unprecedented commitments, including transitions to sustainable food systems, alongside announcements concerning health, renewable energy, energy efficiency, emission reductions from high-emitting industries, and a landmark agreement to activate a global climate fund, with international pledges to finance it amounting to $726 million.

The UAE launched a climate investment fund with an incentive capital of $30 billion, under the name 'ALTÉRRA', which focuses on attracting and stimulating private financing, and it also announced the allocation of $200 million of special drawing rights to the Resilience and Sustainability Trust, and $150 million for water security.

The World Bank revealed during COP28 an increase of about $9 billion annually to finance climate-related projects, and other multilateral development banks announced an additional increase in support for climate action worth more than $22.6 billion.

International pledges of $3.5 billion were also announced to renew the resources of the Green Climate Fund, with $133.6 million announced for the Adaptation Fund, $129.3 million for the Least Developed Countries Fund and $31 million for the Special Climate Change Fund.

Historical decisions

Hamza Yusuf, First Minister of Scotland, confirmed that the achievements of COP28 in its first days contributed to driving global efforts to address the fallout of climate change, especially with the agreement to activate the Loss and Damage Fund (Global Climate Fund).

Yusuf highlighted the need to focus at the present time on how to mobilise this fund through united global efforts, and to ensure the fair and equitable distribution of the contributions made to the Fund to avoid adding to the debt burdens of many Global South countries.

Securing funding

On her part, Sigrid Kaag, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of the Netherlands, stressed the pivotal role of COP28 in securing the necessary funding for climate projects, to help transform million-dollar commitments into trillion-dollar ones.

Kaag added that the COP28 Presidency succeeded in achieving a breakthrough with the activation of the Loss and Damage Fund on the first day of the event, which sends an important message about the expected ambition of the outcomes of this event at its end.

Aligning efforts

For his part, Ajay Banga, President of the World Bank, confirmed that the climate conference, since its launch, has witnessed many important announcements that contribute to enhancing climate action efforts, pointing out that the COP28 Presidency represented by Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and COP28 President, made distinctive efforts in bringing the world together against the global climate crisis.

He noted that the conference announced the very ambitious ALTÉRRA fund, which is the largest investment fund to stimulate global climate action, adding that this fund will change the way money is mobilised towards emerging markets.

In a related context, Hussein Mohamed Bashe, Minister of Agriculture of the United Republic of Tanzania, said that the first days of COP28 witnessed clarity in vision and commitments from different countries of the world under the leadership and supervision of the UAE, and in a way that enhances climate action efforts at the global level.

He mentioned that COP28 has a clear vision regarding the search for effective solutions to mitigate the effects of climate change, and to utilise modern technology to resolve environmental issues, pointing out that the event succeeded in unifying most countries and putting all climate issues on the table.

Albino Akol Atak, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management of the Republic of South Sudan, confirmed that the strides made so far at COP28 contribute significantly to unifying global efforts to find concrete and effective solutions to address climate change, highlighting the success of the event since its launch as a testament to the UAE's leading status in climate action and its commitment to combatting climate change and reducing its environmental impacts.