The United Arab Emirates wants to invest $30 billion in climate protection projects, especially in developing countries. Environment Minister Schulze called on China and other countries to contribute to compensation payments to poorer countries.
At the World Climate Conference in Dubai, the host, the United Arab Emirates, announced a new investment fund worth 30 billion US dollars (27.5 billion euros) to channel more capital into climate protection projects. The focus is on markets in developing countries, said the COP28 presidency. Together with private donors, a total of up to 250 billion dollars is to be mobilized by 2030.
According to the announcement, the focus of the planned investments is on the climate-friendly energy transition, the corresponding conversion of industrial processes and new climate protection technologies. The chairman of the supervisory board of the fund called Alterra will be COP President Sultan al-Jaber; He is already head of the state-owned oil and gas company Adnoc. The exact criteria used to select the projects initially remained unclear.
Guterres: “It’s about the fate of humanity”
At the start of the meeting, UN Secretary General António Guterres called for a rapid end to the use of fossil fuels. “We cannot save a burning planet with a fossil fuel fire hose,” Guterres said in Dubai. Instead, the switch to renewable energies must be accelerated. The goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees can only be achieved if “we stop burning all fossil fuels,” Guterres made clear.
It’s not about a reduction, but about an end, the UN Secretary General referred to the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). At stake is nothing other than “the fate of humanity.” Although the 1.5 degree path is still a long way off, it is “not too late” to prevent “the collapse and burning of the earth”.
Guterres spoke particularly forcefully to the conscience of the many representatives from the Gulf states and other oil-exporting countries in the room: “Don’t stick to an unnecessary business model. Lead the transition to renewable energies and use the resources you have. Make no mistake “Only climatic sustainability will also lead to economic sustainability of your companies in the future,” said Guterres.
British King Charles attends conference
The British King Charles III, who is the first monarch of his country to take part in a climate conference, called on the participants to make a “decisive turnaround in the fight against global warming”. The world’s hope rests on the heads of state and government. He hopes that COP28 will be a “critical turning point towards real transformation measures”.
The monarch warned against indifference. Despite some progress, warning signs of climate change are still being ignored, criticized the 75-year-old. “Some important progress has been made, but it concerns me greatly that we have gone so terribly off track.”
Schulze calls for other countries to participate in the fund
At the start of the World Climate Conference, Germany and the United Arab Emirates surprisingly agreed to provide 100 million US dollars each (the equivalent of around 92 million euros) to compensate for climate damage in particularly vulnerable countries. This is the first time that money has flowed into the fund approved last year. Great Britain, the USA and Japan also made commitments.
Federal Development Minister Svenja Schulze has now called on other countries to also take part. “China and other emerging countries should also follow the example of the United Arab Emirates and participate in the new fund,” Schulze told the Germany editorial network.
The Emirates’ decision to be the first Gulf state to pay into an official UN climate fund is a door opener. “In this way, we are overcoming the old division into a small group of classic industrialized countries that participate in the financing and the large rest,” said Schulze. “This precedent makes it clear: Countries like the Gulf states also have a responsibility. They emit a lot of CO2 themselves and can afford to support poorer states in dealing with climate damage.”
Developing countries and small island states have been demanding compensation payments for climate damage for years, because the causes are primarily the richer industrialized and emerging countries. After industrialized countries pushed the issue to the sidelines for a long time, it was decided at the 2022 climate conference in Sharm-el-Sheikh to set up a new fund to compensate for losses (“loss and damage”).
Chancellor Scholz also takes part in the conference. He wants to promote his climate club in Dubai – a group of 36 countries that are committed to the 1.5 degree goal and want to promote a rapid restructuring of industries. Scholz will speak to the plenary session on Saturday.
With information from Anna Osius, ARD Studio Cairo, currently Dubai
Anna Osius, ARD Dubai, tagesschau, December 1st, 2023 1:04 p.m