(Pakistan Point News - 29th Jun, 2023) LONDON, 29th June, 2023 (WAM) – During London Climate Action Week 2023, COP28 President-Designate, Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, traveled to London to collaborate with British stakeholders to develop holistic ecosystems that connect policy, technology, finance, and people. During his visit, he collaborated with the UK Government on polices which enable greater climate investments, he galvanized investors to fund climate technology, and he consulted with youth climate advocates to help shape the COP28 agenda.
Dr. Sultan Al Jaber met with a wide range of key stakeholders during a visit to London this week, including H.M King Charles III, the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, the Rt Hon. Grant Shapps MP, and Minister of State for Overseas Territories, Commonwealth, Energy, Climate and Environment, the Rt Hon. Lord Zac Goldsmith, as well as business leaders, university students and young climate advocates.
The COP28 President-Designate attended a roundtable on climate solutions joined by H.M King Charles III and attended by Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London; Rt Hon. Graham Stuart MP, Minister for Energy Security and Net Zero; the Vice-Chancellors of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge; and the CEOs of HSBC, AstraZeneca, OVO Energy, and Gridserve.
During London Climate Action Week, Dr. Al Jaber said, “If we are going to cut emissions by 43 percent in the next 7 years, we need a holistic ecosystem that connects policy, technology, finance and people. We need supportive policies to stimulate adoption of clean energies and incentivize decarbonization. We obviously need to apply the latest technologies rapidly and at scale. That will require finance and lots of capital across the world, and particularly in emerging and developing economies. And a critical success factor is people. We need capacity building, and skills development to train young people for the jobs of the future. Because we must deliver climate action and socio-economic opportunity at the same time.”
“This is a moment of clarity that we must face with total honesty – we need a major course correction, and we need it now. Our goal must be to stop talking and start delivering”.
During his visit, Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, also held meetings with UK Government Ministers from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to discuss key initiatives and areas for collaboration ahead of COP28.
Dr. Sultan Al Jaber also visited Octopus Energy and its founding CEO, Greg Jackson, in their London headquarters. They discussed the latest technologies that support the rollout of renewable energy and storage solutions, improve energy efficiency, and help in the race to net zero.
Masdar, the UAE’s world-leading renewable energy company that Dr. Sultan al-Jaber chairs, has committed to invest £1 billion in British battery storage, following its acquisition of Arlington Energy. Masdar has partnered with Octopus Energy to license its groundbreaking technology platform, Kraken, to manage its battery portfolio at low cost and with maximum efficiency. The platform aims to manage 100,000 devices and 6GW of energy capacity by the end of 2023. This will help bring more renewables onto the grid quicker and drive down prices.
During one of his visit highlights, Dr. Al Jaber attended a roundtable with university students and young climate advocates. Hosted by Shamma Al Mazrui, COP28 Youth Climate Champion, the consultation sought views from young people to shape the agenda at COP28, including how the President-Designate can help to ensure that the process and outcomes can be more inclusive and equitable.
Addressing the youth consultation, the COP28 President-Designate said “Your generation is critical, because you will inherit some of the greatest challenges of climate change and will also provide many of the solutions. Your perspectives must be heard. And you must be empowered to make a difference. We need pioneers like yourselves – who are impatient set new benchmarks.”
He also restated his commitment to making COP28 the most inclusive COP ever, by providing “opportunities for youth who have never been included in the process and that come from countries which have seen climate disasters firsthand” through initiatives like the Youth Climate Delegates Program.
In his remarks, Dr. Al Jaber emphasized the need for the voices of young people to be included at COP28 and stated his commitment to called on young people to “bring your passion, your focus and your courage to meet the challenge”, reflecting that “it is time to do things differently because we can’t afford to rely on business as usual”.
