London, Britain – In Britain to attend London Climate Action Week 2023, COP28 President-Designate, Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, urged investors to fund climate technology and also consulted with youth climate advocates to help shape the COP28 agenda.
Dr Al Jaber also collaborated with the UK Government on policies which enable greater climate investments.
He met a wide range of key stakeholders during his visit, including King Charles III, the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, the Grant Shapps MP, and Minister of State for Overseas Territories, Commonwealth, Energy, Climate and Environment, 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 King Charles III and attended by Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London; 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.
“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,”Dr Al Jaber said. “We need supportive policies to stimulate adoption of clean energies and incentivize decarbonization.”
Dr 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.
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 added.
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.
COP28 UAE will take place at Expo City Dubai from November 30 to December 12. The Conference is expected to convene over 70,000 participants, including heads of state, government officials, international industry leaders, private sector representatives, academics, experts, youth, and non-state actors.