On the first day of COP29 in Azerbaijan, the UAE’s Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology Dr. Sultan Al Jaber delivered his handover address as COP28 president, concluding a landmark term defined by breakthrough progress across the climate agenda.
During the speech, he called on all parties to “prove once again that we can unite, act, and deliver” over the next two weeks in Baku. “By delivering the historic UAE Consensus, we accomplished what many thought was impossible,” Dr. Al Jaber said at a ceremony, marking the official transfer of the presidency to Mukhtar Babayev.
Al Jaber added that negotiators at COP28 proved that multilateralism can move the dial and make a difference, adding that, “In the end, determination conquered doubt, and your hard work paid off.”
The 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP29), organized under the UNFCCC, will begin today, November 11, in Baku, Azerbaijan, and will continue until November 22, 2024.
Milestone in global climate action
Since its inception at COP28 last year, the UAE Consensus has emerged as the defining point of reference for global climate ambition and sustainable development. It contains a series of firsts across the climate agenda, including the agreement on a just, orderly, and equitable energy transition. Moreover, it defined global goals for tripling renewable energy capacity, doubling energy efficiency, and ending deforestation by the end of the decade.
In his speech at COP29, the outgoing president said he had been “humbled by the experience” and thanked the many people who helped deliver the “historic, comprehensive and groundbreaking UAE Consensus”, including President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and the entire UAE leadership.
“Progress did not end when the gavel came down on the UAE Consensus,” Dr. Al Jaber said. “In the months since the end of COP28, the initiatives we launched have gathered pace. To date, 55 companies have joined the Oil & Gas Decarbonization Charter (OGDC), covering 44 percent of global oil production. The OGDC is “the most comprehensive private sector partnership on decarbonization to date”, he added.
United. Acted. Delivered.
Watch how COP28 made climate action history as the UAE hands over the COP Presidency.#COP28 #UAEConsensus #COP29 pic.twitter.com/6eqeHVQVJL
— COP28 UAE (@COP28_UAE) November 11, 2024
Progress in finance
“When sectors work together, we can lift economies and lower emissions. We can make climate and socio-economic progress, and we can turn declarations on paper into decisive action on the ground,” he added.
Al Jaber highlighted the progress the world has made in finance, noting that the Philippines is now the host country for the Board of the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage. The COP28 president called on parties to contribute to the fund, which launched at COP28 last year. To date, countries have pledged more than $850 million to the fund and funding arrangements. ALTÉRRA, the world’s largest climate investment fund also launched at COP28, has placed $6.5 billion with impact investors.
“At COP29, parties must deliver a new collective quantified goal on climate finance that is robust and capable of fully implementing the UAE Consensus,” Dr. Al Jaber added.
Read: COP29 begins in Baku with active, effective participation from UAE
COP troika
“At COP28, we broke new ground and set many precedents,” he told delegates. One of the most important is the COP Presidencies Troika, a new ‘mechanism for momentum’ uniting the presidencies of COP28, COP29, and COP30.
The troika will continue to mobilize multilateral platforms including the UN and G20 to “solidify the legacy of the UAE Consensus”, Dr. Al Jaber said. This effort urges all parties to follow the roadmap for keeping 1.5°C within reach.
Al Jaber concluded his speech with a call to action and some words of advice for the incoming COP29 president Babayev. “The consensus we achieved in Dubai was historic. Yet history will judge us by our actions, not our words…. Let positivity prevail and let it power the process. Let actions speak louder than words and let results outlast the rhetoric and remember, we are what we do, not what we say,” he said.
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