New York (WAM)
His Excellency Dr. Sultan bin Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and Special Envoy of the UAE for Climate Change, confirmed that thanks to the forward-looking vision of the wise leadership, the UAE has adopted a methodology that relies on partnerships and focuses on financing projects in countries that are more vulnerable to the repercussions of climate change, based on From its conviction that enhancing the resilience of local economies contributes to enhancing the resilience of the global economy, the UAE has provided more than $1 billion in aid to support climate action in more than 40 countries, with a special focus on island and least developed countries. The state has also provided billions of dollars in aid in recent years to support relief efforts in countries suffering from conflicts and disasters caused mainly by climate change.
This came in the keynote speech delivered by His Excellency, while presiding over the meeting organized by the UAE at the ministerial level of the Security Council, which focused on the important role of the economics of climate action in enhancing global security.
The meeting included an introductory speech by Ambassador Lana Nusseibeh, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation for Political Affairs and Permanent Representative of the UAE to the United Nations, and was attended by John Kerry, US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, and Alok Sharma, President of the twenty-sixth session of the United Nations Conference on Climate Change.
In his speech, His Excellency stressed that activating the economies and mechanisms of financing climate action contribute to enhancing global security, calling on the international community to address the challenges related to climate change, which lead to geopolitical tensions that destabilize and threaten international peace and security. His Excellency Al Jaber said: “The UAE’s experience in financing climate action confirms that the world can direct funding to priority sectors, such as food and water security, especially if climate action is viewed as one of the tools to achieve global security.” His Excellency explained that the UAE has presented innovative models in financing climate action, including the “Agricultural Innovation for Climate” initiative launched by the UAE last year with the participation of 38 countries to expand investments in various fields of agricultural innovation, including drought-resistant seeds, vertical farming technology, and systems water-saving, and more.
His Excellency stressed the need to adopt a comprehensive approach that focuses on women’s economic empowerment and inclusion, and to ensure the contribution of climate finance to achieving balanced sustainable development, noting that fair and balanced funding for such initiatives contributes to enhancing the resilience of societies in the short term, and supporting and consolidating peace in the future.
He said: Although financing climate action is one of the most important requirements for managing the risks of climate change impacts, the international community has not yet fulfilled its pledges made more than a decade ago to provide $100 billion in financing annually to support climate action in The Developing Countries. In addition, many countries affected by rising sea levels assert that the amount of funding that has been identified to help them will not be sufficient alone to reduce the risks of the effects of climate change. His Excellency added: Providing adequate and sustainable financing for climate action is one of the main enabling factors for efforts to reduce the repercussions of climate change, and easy access to funding sources is also critical.
His Excellency Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber affirmed the UAE’s support to provide adequate and effective funding for climate action, reiterating the country’s commitment, as a responsible global partner, to assisting countries most vulnerable to the effects of climate change.
His Excellency Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber said: “The latest report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) highlights the growing risks to the impacts of climate change, as it indicates that about 3.6 billion people are now highly vulnerable to its effects, and are likely to lead to migrations that may cause climate change. The occurrence of many conflicts and turmoil in the future if they are not addressed and solutions are found to address them, which shows that the repercussions of climate change have become an increasing threat to peace and security in the world.
His Excellency added: The report also reviews some encouraging signs of progress in efforts to address the impacts of climate change, which can be built on in the coming months and years to formulate an action plan that outlines means of protecting and strengthening the most vulnerable communities in the world.
His Excellency explained that the twenty-sixth session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP26) reached new recommendations that can be built upon to enhance the implementation of countries’ commitments regarding climate action through measures that unified the efforts of 90% of the global economy in a development path towards carbon neutrality. , calling for similar gradual change in adaptation to the impacts of climate change, especially in the most vulnerable communities.
His Excellency also reviewed the importance of providing adequate funding for efforts to combat climate change, and urged the international community to redouble efforts to support developing countries.
Other dignitaries who attended the meeting included H.E. Osama Mahmoud, Permanent Representative of Egypt to the United Nations, Dr. Mohamed Mubarak Bin Dina, Special Envoy for Climate Affairs for the Kingdom of Bahrain, Jennifer Morgan, Special Envoy for International Climate Action for Germany, and H.E. Barbara Bombele, Minister for Environmental Transformation In France, H.E. Chet Green, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Immigration and Trade of Antigua and Barbuda, H.E. Ahmed Khalil, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of the Maldives, Nafisa Abubakar, Head of the Rural Women’s Energy Security Organization (RUWES) Secretariat, and Yannick Gilmaric, Executive Director of the Green Climate Fund, And a number of ministers and ambassadors from all over the world.
risk reduction
At the conclusion of his speech, His Excellency Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber called on the countries of the world to achieve greater harmonization between global security goals and climate strategies, especially in the countries most vulnerable to the repercussions of climate change. He said: We know that climate is not always a factor in security, but we also realize that the more we can align security and climate strategies in countries most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, the greater our ability to reduce these risks, enhance resilience, and accelerate sustainable economic growth. The UAE holds the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council for the current month of March, and undertakes the task of setting the council’s agenda for this month in agreement with other members, as the state chairs the council’s meetings to collectively develop responses to urgent global security challenges. It is mentioned that the role of the United Nations Security Council is to bear the primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security.