A major international conference on tackling climate change takes hold

By Elizabeth Shumbusho

In the process of making the world a better place for now and for the future delegates from nearly 200 countries, presidents, leaders of business and finance, and representatives of civil society gathered in Dubai for the COP28 climate conference with the aim of fast-tracking the transition to a clean-energy future.

Thoughtful leaders will drill down into the data that illuminates corporate progress toward global climate goals, pathways for transition finance, biodiversity, the phase out of coal-fired power, the greening of private assets, the evolution of carbon markets, and the emergence of resilience alongside carbon cutting as a theme for investment as Jennifer Morgan  State secretary and Special Envoy for international climate action, Federal Foreign Office of Germany argued during the first day of COP28 as she explains 

“Day one here in Dubai at COP28 we had a good start today we all today adopt the loss and refund fund”

COP28 is expected to stress the importance of collective action to stop climate change and the critical role of finance in the low-carbon transition as day one of COP28 was so successful as ambassador DR. Majid Al Suwaidi, COP28 Director-General took the opportunity to thank the UAE’s leadership for the successful start of COP28 as he says 

“The success of this first day of COP is really thanks to the leadership of the UAE. And the reflection we have today is thanks to the guidance that we’ve received from them, they have always been pushing us to be as ambitious as possible and it reflects their approach to everything that they do in the UAE. They don’t just talk about it, they deliver.”

Dr Al Jaber said day one at COP28 reached more than double its target for the Loss and Damage Fund. The threshold set to establish and operationalize the Fund was $200 million, he said,

“We reached more than $420 million in the first half, and I know that over the next couple of days, many more pledges and many more commitments are going to be made by these different heads of states and different heads of governments”

The primary objective of COP28 is to underscore the importance of collective action in addressing climate change and emphasize the crucial role of finance in facilitating a low-carbon transition. Concrete commitments are expected to be discussed and delivered during the summit to ensure that the global community can collectively strive to keep the increase in global temperatures within the target of 1.5 degrees Celsius. The conference aims to unite leaders and deliver actionable solutions to the climate crisis.