Sultan Jaber says finance is ‘key driver of positive change’
The world needs “trillions” of dollars to spur a green transition and combat global warming, the leader of last year’s COP28 climate talks said on Tuesday, warning that political momentum could disappear without clear action.
COP28 President Sultan Al Jaber welcomed progress at last year’s UN talks in Dubai, with countries agreeing to triple global renewable energy capacity within a decade and “move away” from polluting fossil fuels .
But the agreement lacked important details, including funding, placing the blame on this year’s COP29 conference in Azerbaijan.
Experts say funding agreed this year will also play an important role in encouraging governments to step up decarbonization targets as global heat records are broken and impacts intensify.
Sultan Al Jaber said finance was “a key enabler to achieve positive change at the speed and scale required”.
“But not normal scale financing – we need financing at all levels,” he told an event in Paris organized by the International Energy Agency (IEA).
Countries are expected to set new targets this year for the amount of annual support rich countries will provide to poor countries from 2025 onwards for the energy transition and adaptation to climate impacts.
Rich countries’ failure to meet the $100 billion a year target by 2020 has undermined trust, and there are signs the target may not be reached until 2022.
Demand already far exceeds available funding. The U.N.-backed expert group on climate finance estimates that emerging economies excluding China will need to spend about $2.4 trillion annually by the end of this decade.
“The world must now raise its standards to meet the challenges we face,” Sultan Jaber said.
“We need to start thinking in trillions, not billions.”
“Trust the numbers”
Awareness of the scale of support required has placed a focus on expanding funding sources.
The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund are under pressure to launch sweeping reforms to align their lending with the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
Other initiatives being discussed include new taxes, particularly on polluting industries, and shifting fossil fuel subsidies toward green development.
The United Arab Emirates, Azerbaijan and Brazil, host of the 2025 Conference of the Parties, are launching an initiative to maintain global focus on the 1.5 degrees Celsius goal.
Sultan Jaber warned that there was a risk that “political momentum could dissipate and then fade or disappear between COPs.”
IEA chief Fatih Birol said the energy agency has become a key player in promoting the energy transition and will provide assistance to countries to achieve emission reduction targets, and is expected to strengthen decarbonization plans this year and 2025.
He also announced the establishment of a new mechanism from March 1 to measure the gap between countries’ goals and the actions they are taking.
“We trust governments to walk the talk, but at the IEA we trust the numbers,” he said.
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