“His Excellency Dr. Sultan bin Ahmed Al Jaber Calls for More Climate Finance to Support African Countries”

His Excellency Dr. Sultan bin Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and President-designate of the COP28 Conference, stressed the need to provide more government and private funding to support the countries of the African continent in facing the repercussions of climate change.

This came during His Excellency’s speech at the 58th annual meeting of the African Development Bank, which is being held under the title “Mobilizing Private Sector Financing for Climate and Green Growth in Africa” ​​from May 22 to 26 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.

At the beginning of his speech, His Excellency conveyed the greetings of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the State, “may God protect him”, to the participants and attendees, noting his keenness to simultaneously support progress in both sustainable development and climate action. His Excellency also thanked the leadership and government of the brotherly Arab Republic of Egypt for hosting this important meeting.

finance

His Excellency Dr. Sultan bin Ahmed Al-Jaber said: The countries of the African continent are qualified to present a successful model for sustainable and low-carbon development, given their great potential. access to it, which jeopardizes both the goals of global climate action and sustainable development in Africa.

His Excellency explained that only 2% of the $3 trillion that has been invested in the field of renewable energy around the world over the past twenty years has reached Africa, pointing out that if climate finance is rebalanced in Africa, this continent will be a model. success in low-carbon sustainable development.

to treat

As a first step to address the financing deficit, His Excellency called on the developed countries to commit to providing the $100 billion in climate finance that they pledged more than a decade ago. There are currently encouraging signs from donor countries, and we hope that real and tangible steps will be taken in the near future.

His Excellency added: “The 54 African countries are the least affected by climate change, as they contribute less than 4% of global emissions, but they are the most affected by its repercussions. twice the size of India.

His Excellency explained that Africa loses an additional 4 million hectares of land annually, and this coincides with droughts and food insecurity that force people to migrate, weaken biodiversity and affect life and livelihoods, pointing out that there are 600 million people who do not benefit from electricity, and nearly One billion people do not have access to clean cooking fuels.

Quantum leap

His Excellency Dr. Sultan Al-Jaber stressed that achieving radical progress and the desired qualitative shift requires changing work methods to attract the required financing from the private sector, and that developing the performance of international financing institutions and multilateral banks will contribute to making a significant difference in this field, by providing more financing on conditions. Facilitating, mitigating risks, and attracting capital from the private sector, explaining that the presidency of the COP28 conference is exploring a number of additional mechanisms to increase the flow of financing from the private sector to Africa.

His Excellency added: “By adopting policies and regulations that create a positive investment climate and encourage the participation of the private sector, African governments can build strong plans for sustainable investment, and in return, failure to provide sufficient and effective climate financing to Africa will push many countries to follow an emissions-intensive path.” For development, and this will negatively affect everyone, and there is a significant lack of funding for the issue of “adaptation”, which requires donor countries to double their commitments in this field by 2050.

Possibilities

His Excellency stressed that the African continent has great potential that qualifies it to be a model for sustainable, low-carbon, high-growth development, and said: “Instead of Africa remaining dependent on old technologies, it can become a center for renewable energy sources.”