Dr Sultan Al Jaber [SAJ]
Becky Anderson [BA]
Simon Stiel [SS]
H.E. Kristalina Georgieva [KG]
H.E. Saber Chowdhury [SC]
H.E. Dr. Muawieh Radaideh [MR]
H.E. Mukhtar Babayev [MB]
0:00 Dr Sultan despite a very very complex
0:05 geopolitical um atmosphere cop 28 delivered an unprecedented agreement uh
0:13 in the UAE consensus I just want to give you a moment um to assess for us what
0:21 you feel was achieved and just briefly if you will um talk about how this came
0:29 together [SAJ] well first of all allow me to say that uh the way you described the achievement
0:36 is not fair how that is an
0:42 [Laughter] understatement and uh first allow me to
0:48 say how pleased I am to be around such an esteemed audience and to be surrounded by my colleagues that have in
0:55 fact were instrumental in helping the uee achieve such an unprecedented
1:01 accomplishment through the UAE consensus https://www.cop28.com/en/the-uae-consensus-negotiations-outcome and I’ll go back to the to the
1:07 point of how you described this achievement against all the
1:13 odds. the UAE was able to deliver an unprecedented historic
1:21 gamechanging the most comprehensive agreement when it comes to addressing the climate challenge while I
1:29 fully understand fully respect and appreciate all the progress made in the
1:35 previous 27 cops. this was a paradigm shift and we
1:41 must accept to admit this fact. there’s no way around it
I suppose someone had to say it.
1:50 [Applause] [Music] [Applause] and and I say
1:56 this because 2023 had its moments it wasn’t an easy year and I
2:04 don’t want in any way to undermine what it took to get us to that point where we
2:11 delivered this paradigm shift. it was a year full of complexity
2:19 challenges and risks throughout the way until we delivered on
2:25 December 13th. we had to deal with a very
2:30 polarized world the whole DNA of the process was
2:35 finger pointing and blaming each other it was our drive it was our commitment and it
cough
2:43 was the uae’s DNA centered around relationships Partnerships Building
2:49 Bridges faith and trust that have helped create a completely different ambients
2:55 and have helped us have the right momentum to ensure unity and solidar ity and if it wasn’t for that mindset we
3:02 would not have been able to deliver such a paradigm shift and again and I’m sure you already know since December 13th https://unfccc.int/documents/636608 I
3:10 have not had the chance to speak publicly so allow me to use this
3:15 opportunity to from the bottom of my heart appreciate all the support I received
3:22 and my team from our leadership here in the United Arab Emirates from our
3:28 people [Applause] the dedication and commitment of the UAE
3:37 team is what have made the difference it is what enabled us at the presidency to
3:45 stay on course and to be very persistent and consistent with our messaging
3:52 throughout 2023 most of you can uh remember the attacks we’ve
4:00 been under the many unfounded attacks the
4:07 misperceptions but that’s part of the game we accepted to sign up to that game
and you know what they say about the rules of the game.
4:12 and I know and I say this with full confidence that we proved the Skeptics wrong and we
4:21 inspired the optimists with the UA consensus where we stand
4:27 today is at a position of strength we have developed a pragmatic
This is what we call the joy of “I told you so”
4:36 practical road map if the world is serious in addressing this challenge
4:42 this is the road map that will get us where we want to go and leave 2050 aside
4:49 our objective was to accelerate and to go for 2030 and I must say if it wasn’t for my
4:57 colleagues here with me in this panel as well as the ministerial peairs it would
5:03 have been a very difficult task [P] did you ever at any stage during the year because look I mean you’re absolutely
5:09 right to point out this is a paradigm shift I mean this is a there is there is opportunity for here to the for this to
5:16 be a real game Changer and as I pointed out but only used one term this is historic
5:22 and unprecedented at any point during last year did you think you wouldn’t be
5:29 able to pull off what you wanted to pull off which was this acceleration in the efforts towards
5:37 addressing and doing doing something significant and practical and pragmatic
5:43 about climate crisis look I’m probably asking the wrong person [SAJ] if it wasn’t
5:50 look at the end of the day you’re dealing with a team that is very excited
5:55 overwhelmed cautiously progressing the agenda
6:02 but very determined a team that was very determined to make the difference and it
6:09 was the overwhelming unlimited support that we got from His Highest the president of
6:15 the UAE and I don’t say this just for the sake of saying it I mean it he was behind us every step of the way and
6:23 every time we would come across a challenge he has always been very calm
6:31 and very centered around the fact that he wants us to stay the course and stay focused on the ultimate goals and
6:37 objectives and the deliver deliverable that we want to achieve by the end of cop and to leave all this noise aside
That’s the way to do it.
6:44 while we learned you know we’ve traveled the world we’ve engaged with NGOs Civil
6:49 Society youth indigenous peoples from all over the world the campaign that
6:55 have informed our strategy has never ever never been conducted in any
7:01 preparations for any cop before that’s why we came very prepared and we knew
7:06 exactly what challenges we’re going to face once we start the negotiation
7:11 engagement and while I appreciate that many came with real
7:17 genuine interests in helping push this forward we also had some other agendas that tried to sabotage but guess what it
7:25 is the UAE team and it is the UAE DNA and the support the help and the
7:30 commitment and the dedication that we received from all of our partners that have allowed us to maneuver through these Dynamics and deliver this paradigm
7:36 shift [P] I want to talk to you about the the significance and what when you when you drill down where you think the UAE
7:42 consistent uh the UAE consensus or why it is UA consensus is so significant let
7:48 me just open this up Simon steel um let me ask you that very question the UAE
7:56 consensus has universally being described as historic and unprecedented
8:03 where do you place it in the Paragon of cops in terms of tangible results let’s
8:09 let’s just get a sense from you of its significance [SS] right well first of all
8:15 thank you Becky and um good afternoon to all and I want to start by commending Dr Sultan and his team for their
8:23 leadership um it was a very very bumpy ride getting us M um to the
8:31 13th um I’ve gotten to know Dr Sultan
8:36 well and conversations that we had this time last year um in setting the North Star as to
8:44 where we needed to get to. his determination and his Focus um despite
8:51 um all that was said publicly he steered that course um to to to the very end and
8:59 and it is his stubborn optimism I think collectively that stubborn optimism that
9:05 we could get get there um having to do certain things differently um I think help um lead us
9:13 to to to to to where we where we landed um where does cop 28 sit. I mean
9:22 Paris um cop 21 kind of set out you know what needed to be done m
9:30 um and Glasgow https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_United_Nations_Climate_Change_Conference so that was that was significant that set out the framework
9:36 that is the North Star based on the best available science um with a framework
9:43 that we had to work in work within but over the course of um the seven cops
9:51 that um that the past um flesh needed to be placed on on on on framework of Bones
10:00 Glasgow was significant in setting out the rules that help give um further
10:07 shape to the Paris agreement but what was really significant about Dubai last
10:14 year was this kind of got into the how how do we get things done we keep
10:20 talking about this shift from negotiations to implementation um cop 27 was the
10:28 implementation cop but further definition was required and the global stock take which was the
10:35 big deliverable um last year set out precisely what implementation means so
10:44 right now as we now run down to 2030 and Beyond this is all about getting things
10:50 done it’s about rolling our sleeves up we know the what we know the how we know the when we know the who um it’s about
10:57 getting getting this done so critical [BA] let me just bounce that back to you Dr sulan then what you know give given what
11:03 you’ve been through what you understand now what needs to happen now to keep one and a half degrees Within Reach [SAJ] well
11:08 first of all we need to come to terms with realities we have now A playbook
11:15 represented through the UA consensus which must be respected and implemented
11:21 to its fullest and everyone should believe the fact that this uee consensus was
Bolt Europa and Open.ngo will become a significant part of this process, hopefully.
11:29 equipped and fully informed by the science of how to keep the world within 1.5 1.5 Within
11:35 Reach but there are things here that we need to accept the transition will happen in
11:43 different places at different Paces we need to ensure that a custom
11:49 tailored approach is devised developed and implemented to cater for this
11:54 transition ⮦⮋⮧ and this is what we are able to come and deliver through through the UA
This is where the open source nature of the Bolt Europa projects comes into play. While also assuring that standardization of the APIs, and enabling modular interconnection between components of the solutions, which span the entire supply chain, from manufacturing to sales, to be mixed and matched for customization. While also creating education infrastructure and certification materials, in multiple languages, to ensure a high quality of service and enable workforce mobility.
12:00 consensus 27 27 cops not a single cop
12:05 was able to include text on fossil fuel in the end document it came from the UAE and it
12:12 came from a man that used to be called the oil man I want those now who used to call me
12:20 the oil man to step up and explain to me on what basis were they taken that
12:25 position against the UAE and against the cop 28 presidency. 27 cops not a single
12:33 cop was able to include such language. we did it why because we believe in the
12:39 transition we embraced the transition before anyone else and we invested
12:45 hundreds of billions of dollars in the transition and we will continue to do so [BA]I mean the nayay will say it was a you
12:51 know it was a phasing down not phasing out [SAJ] of course to which you say what
I think there are a few commercial products which cannot be manufactured without petroleum as the raw material. But those products are ~1-2 % of the global utilization of fossil fuels.
The paradigm shift is their accepting that petro-states https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrostate are not a viable option for net zero to become a reality. Those states will either have to diversify their economies, or risk collapse. Which is to say that the flow of fossil fuels, will inevitably have to be regulated and include a carbon tax in the future, to such a degree, that it would not be very profitable, as a primary source of income for states. A bulk of the stockpiles for oil can become one of two things. Either stranded assets. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCrgpdHCO3U
or they can appreciate in value as the supplies become limited artificially, where by 2100 a barrel of oil could cost as much as $420 – $4200 while being produced at a rate of 1/72nd to 1/99th of current production of ~280mil barrels per day. The alternatives to that plan, typically result in a situation without anything recognizable as a national economy, across 90% of the surface of the earth.
With joint efforts of Bolt Europa and it’s partners, we have plans to replace the current oil revenues of our partners, with a regulated nuclear energy industry, with reactors that are safe and cheap enough to be deployed in african and middle eastern countries. Among other features of the 4th industrial revolution. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/01/the-fourth-industrial-revolution-what-it-means-and-how-to-respond/
If you would like to apply for an organization level account:
12:56 again the transition will happen in different places at different
13:02 Paces whether it’s we have to accept the fact that the world today today consumes
13:09 not less than 275 million barrels of oil equivalent with this
13:14 transition we understand that the only source of energy that will increase over
13:20 time will have to be the least carbon intensive and renewable energy and that’s why for the first time again a
13:27 comprehensive agreement came out of a up with a very clear Target of tripling renewable energy and doubling Energy
13:32 Efficiency by 2030 so again this is simply because of our
13:39 informed experience skill set and the science that we believe in [BA] so I’m going
13:44 to come to you and talk about where the road that you are now on um towards
13:49 hosting U cop 29 um and some of the experiences that I’m sure you’ve already discussed with Dr Sultan but you can take
13:56 out of the the hosting and this and this listening this listening Journey that
14:01 the UAE went on because I think we all those of us who are based in the UA went on that Journey with Dr Sultan as well
14:08 and it was fascinating to see you know and to to excuse the phrase but the
14:13 drilling down on on on on what was needed to be as fully informed as Dr
14:19 Sultan says the ultimate um negotiated text is before I come to you though sir
14:24 um chrisina it’s it’s absolutely clear that we need the finance in in place now I mean that was one of the key sort of
14:32 takeouts um from this not that it would be nice to have but that it is a must
14:37 have and it has to start now how can countries leverage uh the finance and implementation tools such as the
14:44 international financial institutions for example and cop 28’s action agenda to
14:50 ensure that everyone can Implement on um their climate commitments thought Stan
14:56 has already said the pace will be different in different places but what are you what are you seeing through your
15:02 perspective at the IMF [KG] well uh let me first say that um uh the most
15:08 impressive part of being at cop 28 was to
15:15 witness how the impossible gets done and
15:20 it was on the very first day of the cop we had this impossible loss and damage
15:27 task and we walk in the cop and it’s done I actually um vividly remember meeting Dr
15:36 sultan and saying look you’re doing so well that the world should make you the permanent president of
15:43 cop how did your team feel about that and Becky and then I saw the faces
15:53 of his team they were horrified. people who haven’t slept for
15:58 months uh in other words what we what we need to recognize is that this
16:05 cop moved the conversation from we shall to we do and that applies
16:14 also to the area of Finance we can and we deliver. on finance I want to stress the
16:24 three big shifts that has happened this uh last COP
16:29 the first one is the recognition that finger pointing gets us
16:38 nowhere and Dr sultan said that that we have
16:43 to pull together virtually all hands on deck there is a role for the public
16:50 sector there’s a role for internation institutions like the fund there is a role for the private sector and only
16:57 when we think collectively how to combine these roles we can be successful
17:04 that translated very directly for us at the IMF and this is
17:09 my second Point into Clarity of where we are headed next and it is for the fund
17:18 to bring our macro policy expertise so countries can bring climate
17:26 naturally and integrate it in their fiscal policy and their monetary policy and their financial policy and on that
17:34 basis create the foundation for climate Finance. we also uh recognized that and
17:42 this is my third point that only when we
17:47 pull together and the whole becomes bigger than the some of the parts we
17:54 will be successful uh and I’ll tell you we at for for us at the font it means very
18:01 close cooperation with the World Bank with the other development Banks and
ah yes, a non-bullshit carbon capture technique, to make up for all those other bad investments. I would link to a book about long term financial management here, but I don’t want to cause any failures. Which seems to be quite different from the vast majority of current green-washing carbon capture projects.
18:06 very open open and inclusive approach to how we we bring private Finance on scale
18:14 in Emerging Market I’m fascinated to hear you speaking like this because this time last year at the wgs we were
18:19 talking about the importance of Reform of rethinking the way that multin we
18:26 talked about this Dr sultan about how the MD they how the multilateral development
18:32 Banks worked whether they were fit for purpose I’m fascinated to hear you speaking with such Clarity today about
18:40 what is being learned in this kind of you know deep dive Journey over the past
18:45 year so I think for the benefit of those in the room just give me some some examples of what the bank how the IMF is
18:52 actually working for the benefit of climate crisis as it were [KG] yeah so how
18:58 many many of you know what is the IMF raise your hand IMF you know it okay
19:03 excellent welled audience uh what what we do is to
19:10 provide policy support for macroeconomic and financial stability growth and
19:18 employment and when we think of climate what is it one it is a big destabilizer
19:25 climate shocks affect macroeconomic stability two it is a fantastic opportunity for
19:32 green growth and green jobs so what we do first and foremost is to bring
19:38 mitigation adaptation transition in our policy
19:43 discussions we say tax
19:49 bad subsidize good tax carbon uh carbon
19:55 uh or or put a price on carbon and provide subsidies for Innovation so
20:01 we can speed up decarbonization we tell our central
20:06 banks you guys need to see how much climate risks are affecting your
20:12 portfolio stress test for them and I can tell you we finish a research it shows that for this region uh Dr
20:20 Sultan banks have about 50 billion in projected
20:26 losses per year M because of climate shocks so quantify and find a way uh
That is typically what bullshit green-washing carbon capture projects do, And why I decided to start a system separate from that, which does not allow green washing. I wonder how much damage the bundling of stranded assets will cause this time. https://www.businessinsider.com/china-economy-beijing-refuses-admit-broken-down-failing-structural-issues-2024-2
20:34 forward but we are also a financial institution so we put our money where
20:39 your mouth is where our mouth uh we have created a fantastic instrument we call
20:45 it resilience and sustainability trust 42 billion UAA contributed last year
20:53 during cop to finance long-term Trust
20:58 transformation of countries at concessional rates Jordan
21:05 and Bangladesh are in our portfolio and what I’m extremely proud is in one short
21:12 year we delivered 17 programs nine of
21:18 them in Africa where the most vulnerable countries are and we have 30 programs if
21:24 there are people in this room that are interested please do not hesitate to call we here
21:33 be busy this afternoon you’re going to be busy this afternoon look those sort of numbers are fantastic given where um
21:41 where we were just discussing where we where we were at just this time last year I mean obviously you know it’s
21:47 never enough I think you’ll um you’ll concede to that but at least the
21:52 thinking is there the the the sort of infr the atmospheric infrastructure is
21:58 there at least can I can I just add one thing uh of course the needs are
22:03 gigantic we talk about trillions and what we have uh started aggressively
22:08 tackling is the part of financing that has to come from countries themselves
22:16 when we looked at the numbers how much is needed for developing uh economies we
22:22 need 3 trillion 1 trillion external financing 2 trillion domestic resources
22:29 most of our conversation is about the 1 trillion right we at the fund we want to
22:35 concentrate on the two trillion how you structure your tax system how you use your money wisely how we create deep
22:43 Capital Market so you have the bond markets delivering domestic uh resources
22:50 uh and I cannot stress enough how critical it is to get your house in
22:58 order to have sound mcro Foundation to raise this money [BA] how does that resonate
23:04 uh um Mr trry with you through the lens of Bangladesh and and and and if you
23:11 will you know the kind of wider Global South um perspective at this point you
23:16 know you were there UAE consensus was a tough Journey but they got there
23:23 so what’s your sense of what was achieved and what more more needs to be done [H.E. Saber Chowdhury [SC]] thank you um great to be with
23:32 Sultan again we we passed a very intense time there was uh you know I remember
23:38 when the first draft came out um people were not happy and the important thing
23:44 is everyone was heard and I think the message got through so I think tenacity
23:49 you know from the leadership of UAE was phenomenal and let me just reflect on the word consensus uh we use it so often
23:57 so if you look at the historical context in uh in context of the unfccc https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Framework_Convention_on_Climate_Change this was essentially uh a lowest
24:05 common denominator approach something that everyone could agree on so I would call that a technical consensus so what
24:13 we have done in the UAE is we have challenged that notion of a technical
24:19 consensus and we have made it substantive so now this is a consensus
24:25 and it’s important to appreciate that which is based on science which is based on global solidarity which is absolutely
24:32 vital Bangladesh and a lot of the other countries from the so-called Global South talked about the trust deficit you
24:40 know and every time we have a cop we hear about the emissions Gap we hear about adaptation Gap the financing Gap
24:46 but for us it was a trust Gap because the cop process was really a promise
24:52 unkempt so commitments were made and they were not delivered upon so this
24:58 Gap widened I think what we have done is actually if not fully bridged that Gap
25:04 we now have a glimpse of what Global solidarity can actually look like and I think that is so so very important [BA] what can
You’re welcome.
25:12 you do what the IMF is asking you to do and what more support do you need are you are you are you confident you can
25:17 now get the funding that you need in principle [SC] the the requirements are huge
25:23 like let’s not fool ourselves uh you’re talking about trillions not even billions loss and damage was
25:30 groundbreaking so far we have got 800 million and that needs to be upscaled if
25:35 you look at adaptation finance that needs to be upscaled but I think what is absolutely critical going forward is
25:42 that we have to solve the problem faster than we are creating it.– we cannot be
25:49 talking about funding for adaptation and at the same time um emitting you know
25:55 that the two don’t go together and as they say if you’re in a hole you stop digging so I think we have to stop
26:01 digging that hole we have to start slowing the train down before we can push it back and unless we do that the
26:08 needs are going to be simply astronomical you know there will not be enough money to go around and now we are
26:13 talking about loss and damage but it is equally important that you lighten the burden loss and damage by doing
26:20 effective adaptation you don’t want everything to end up is loss and damage so you know there is action that needs
26:25 to be taken on all foref fronts and I think that’s another reason why this cop was a defining cop it was action across
26:32 all of the critical areas mitigation adaptation loss and damage funding and
26:38 then the first ever Global stock take and I think when we talk about trying to solve the problem faster than we are
26:45 creating it the fact that all the parties are being urged to see their emissions PE by
26:51 2025 is absolutely critical because if we don’t Peak by 2025 we going to miss
26:56 out on 20 30 and if we miss out on 2030 we are never going to get to where we
27:02 want to be in 2050 [BA] absolutely it’s so interesting you talking about 2025 2030
and missing those targets may result in not having any wealth to hoard by 2050, because you can’t have wealth without a functioning economy.
27:07 rather than 2050 which just seemed like such a sort of you know pipe dream so long in the future that people were
27:14 finding it difficult to get their heads around that uh Minister R um otherwise known as our karaoke um uh King here
27:21 today with the uh with the microphone there um in your view what what stands
27:28 out as the most significant aspect of the UAE consensus I think um Mr chry
27:35 there making a clear point that that trust deficit that was felt for so long
27:40 by the so-called Global South is something that is sort of you know uh in the in the rear viw mirror as it were I
27:46 mean it you know the momentum needs to obviously be carried on but um for climate vulnerable countries what are
27:53 the key takeouts and what are the challenges that still exist [H.E. Dr. Muawieh Radaideh [MR]] well thank
27:59 you Becky and let me start first of all by as everybody did congratulate the UAE its leadership and Dr Sultan and His
28:06 Marvelous team on on this achievement I mean right off the gate
28:13 starting with a loss and damage and agreeing on the agenda which is unprecedented as well but before that
28:20 the climate diplomacy that Dr Sultan and his team engaged in globally laid the path and the
28:26 foundation for improving the level of Trust and Dr Sultan remember when we were in the
28:33 advisory committee and I was honored to be on the advisory committee we uh we we
28:38 had to address the elephant in the room head on and the the talking um trips the
ha, I see what you did there.
28:47 engagements that you have gone around the world with all of the world leaders built up the trust to the level
28:54 where we started the uh the cop process on the right
29:01 footing mind you most of the cop processes start with a very negative sentiment and a disenchantment
29:08 especially by the youth that don’t believe that these people in suits inside the rooms are actually doing
29:13 something good. engaging the youth in the way that the UAE has done in cop 28 paid major
29:21 dividends having the youth Champion as part and parcel of the process now moving on is very important tackling
29:29 major issues that haven’t been tackled before in the Cop proc processes like health and water and food security and
29:35 the way it was tackled is very very important it’s also very important because it happened in this
29:41 region where many of these issues are major issues plucking our youth from The
29:47 Dangerous Grounds of our employment and engaging them in the green economy is
these are the types of things Bolt brings to European Allies.
29:52 very very important health is very important food security is very important if you look at the conditions
29:58 in our region.- dry in general. we’re slated to see the impacts of climate
30:04 change more than anybody else around the world we’re going to have more droughts less precipitation and the ripple effect
30:11 of that on the economy now if if you look at the loss and damage as well having that in place
30:19 the level that we have reached in terms of financing it I mean agreeing on it moving it institutionalizing it is very
30:25 important but I think we were ambitious to see more coming especially in tackling adaptation agreeing on D more
30:31 than doubling adaptation is very important for this region and the global South
30:37 because mitigation and we believe in a balanced approach in Jordan between mitigation
30:42 and adaptation but adaptation is more important for some so you have to look at this balanced approach and the UAE
30:48 has managed to hold the stick in the middle and manage to balance things out
30:54 the first GST after the call after the Paris agreement is is a heavy
31:01 is heavy lifting and to do it in the way that it was done in cop 28 is something that
31:07 deserves a lot of accolades [BA] this happened of course in the midst of the Gaza conflict I mean this is a this is a
31:14 region that has a backdrop at present at least of of of of escalation um or at
31:20 least concerns about escalation how do you ensure that the momentum that was um
31:26 that has been achieved by the UAE consensus is um sustainable at this
31:33 point given what is going on geopolitics it’s not just in this region of course it’s around the world [MR] look part of the
31:40 cop process is what I call the cop Amnesia we go to the cop and it’s a very
31:46 intense process I mean many countries not the host country but many countries prepare for 3 to six months before going
31:52 to the cop engage fully in the cop for 12 in this case 13 days and then then
31:57 you have the aftermath of the cop trying to absorb what has been agreed agreed in
32:02 terms of declarations and and and so on and try to incorporate that in in the policies of the countries because the
32:09 key to the success of the cops to the countries is to take the lessons learned and the decisions and incorporate them
32:16 in the country’s policies so moving forward it’s very important to make sure
32:22 that momentum that success that euphoria that came out of cop 28 translates into
32:29 concrete actions on the ground and some say maybe the cop should have it happen every 2 years to give to give space for
32:36 that but if it’s going to continue every year then there should be a connectivity
32:42 between the cops not a disengagement between the cops and not cops that serve
32:47 the host country’s agenda but it should be a seamless connectivity between the cops
32:55 all along I mean from Paris agreement until now there has been some disconnects cop 28 managed to bring the
33:03 1 and A2 degrees back into action put concrete action in place first time that
33:09 fossil fuel is tackled in this way in a way that works for everybody and now how do we build on
33:15 that moving forward to cop 29 and cop 30 maybe the three presidents should sit
33:20 down together on a continuous basis the advisory committee idea was a great idea so that you listen to Divergent mindsets
This is sort of the idea behind Bolt Europa, though covering more topics than climate change.
33:28 and try to see that this will be the landscape moving in and try to work [BA] when it was unclear that the UA consensus
33:34 would be um would would be the end the end result of uh of this year’s worth of
33:40 um um um process um by by the UAE we did
33:45 talk about the importance of you know multilateral sort of uh Frameworks to work through huge existential issues
33:54 like climate change given what was going on on internationally given that the
33:59 system feels at times so broken um on a geopolitical uh basis um and and it
34:06 ended up being um so much more than that Dr Stan before I come to you uh sir because I didn’t want to uh bring in the
Which is what we intend open.ngo to be utilized for.
34:12 incoming cop 29 presidency of course [SAJ] can I elaborate on this point yes no go on. I was going to come back to you yeah look
34:17 we need to view the UA consensus and cop 28 as a true paradigm shift and a course
34:25 correction I did mention that 2023 had its moments but it’s fair for you to
34:31 know what we had to deal with zero trust in the process yet very
34:37 high expectations the global South had no faith whatsoever in this multilateral
34:45 process so it was our responsibility to restore Faith to restore trust and
34:51 multilateralism and I do believe that through the UAE consensus we were able to prove that multilateralism can still
35:00 work given that you give it the right platform you inform it you equip it and
35:06 you attract those who are genuinely interested in playing ball and adding
35:11 value and this is exactly what we had to do throughout our engagement plan in
35:17 2023 the fact that we are able to get the world to agree on the agenda in the
35:23 first 10 minutes of the meeting to many people in this room this seems as a natural natural action
35:31 no! in different cops it used to take days. I participated in the Bor meeting
35:37 it took one week 7 days to agree the agenda I’m not making this up seven days
35:44 in fact the Eighth Day only they adopted the agenda so you can imagine the first
35:49 day first few minutes you gav the agenda and then you surprise the world with the
35:55 loss and damage fund that has been talked about for 27 years in fact 28 years a fund to help the vulnerable
36:03 countries and Emerging Markets never was able to be established not only we
36:08 established it we started it by funding it [BA] you did all of this while remaining
36:14 the CEO of adnoc many thought that that was a conflict of interest and pointed
36:20 to the fact that adnoc is in fact increasing production capacity how
36:27 did you see or do you see these seeming conflicting things and did the did the
36:35 criticism ever gets you [SAJ] never because I knew I was going to prove them wrong I
ah yes, the joy of “I told you so” but harder to suppress this time.
36:41 knew it from day one and I thought that that was a cheap shot they it was an unfounded attack why
36:49 they could have looked at my all they had to do is just look at my bio and they would know that I bring a
36:54 diversified skill set a diversified energy experience and I think with the
37:00 UAE consensus it turned out to be an asset to have someone leading the most
37:05 Progressive Advanced Global Energy company to lead the Cop process otherwise we would not have been able to include
37:10 the fossil fuel language in the text so I think it has it has proved everyone
37:16 wrong and proved us right at least for those who are sober enough and those who
Again!
37:22 are seriously and sincerely and genuinely s interested in helping
37:28 address This Global Challenge and the fact that they kept going back to adnoc
37:33 uh increasing production I’m sorry I mean we can always take them back uh into oil and
37:40 gas 101 there is a huge difference between increasing capacity and increasing production and as we continue
37:47 to act as a true Global reliable responsible supplier of energy we are
37:53 only investing in our resources that are known to be and proven to be the least
37:59 carbon intensive we’re only investing in capacity that doesn’t mean that it’s necessarily that we are going to produce
38:05 it this is what we are actually doing in adok and in parallel adnoc is the largest
38:12 investor renewable energy and clean Technologies and low carbon Solutions our board just approved a $23 billion
38:18 investment fund to help adno transition from oil and gas reduce its carbon
38:24 emissions through ccus and clean Technologies and the investment in low carbon Solutions as well as renewable
38:30 energy sustainability cuts across everything we do on adnoc [BA] Dr. Sultan ended up being some of your closest neighbors who
38:36 uh put the consensus in Jeopardy or at least took you to the wire
38:43 again how tough and we talk about consensus this time not being the lowest common denominator that would be as you
38:50 rightly described a technical consensus this is more than that how tough were those last what were they last few hours
38:57 [SAJ] look I would say we’ve had many Sleepless weeks and months throughout uh
39:04 the whole preparations of Cop 28 the last 4 days were the toughest and it started when uh I
39:13 decided to press the button on the text because until
39:18 then not everybody was really showing me their cards and until I pressed the
39:24 button that’s when everyone came out with the re with their real motives so everything you used to hear
39:32 in public settings was not necessarily true it was only when I pressed that button when everybody started engaging
39:40 and stepping up to understand that we were genuine we were serious and that we
39:46 will include fossil fuel in the in the language can I just ask you is there anybody that you most disappointed
39:53 by um if anything I would I would say I’ll turn the page
39:59 and I would say that this was a big lesson learned for the
40:06 world to give those who have stuck their neck out to help address such a global
oh no he didn’t! 🤣
40:12 challenge the opportunity and instead of shooting at them throughout is to give them the chance and to help in every way
40:18 possible what I can comfortably say as this was a real true stress
40:25 test not only for us for many and just like we have been put under pressure we
40:32 also put many under pressure and I can comfortably say they stepped up they engaged towards the last three days and
40:39 they played ball and they gave me as the president of cop what I wanted to deliver through the UAE
40:46 consensus [BA] Mr bayv welcome the incoming cop 29 presidency
40:54 um has you know kicked off under some similar scrutiny um than that which um
41:01 we remember from here um a year ago how is Azerbaijan working towards ensuring its
41:07 responsibility as the host country of cop 29 and what what are your learnings
41:13 from 2023 [H.E. Mukhtar Babayev [MB]] thank you very
41:18 much the to host cop 29 in Baku is very
41:23 big responsibility for the country at the same time big opportunity and you absolutely correct
41:30 that today we are learning listening and uh I think also this world
41:38 government Summit our visit uh to also
41:43 it’s a good chance to to work together with cop 28 team and thanks to Dr sulan
41:50 he uh he promised all possible assistance to tobani side to
42:00 provide uh necessity uh assistance to make the cop 29 successful in
42:07 Baku and for us uh it’s a big responsibility to uh to learn also how
42:16 this consensus made in uh Emirates how to bring it to aeran at the same time uh
42:23 how to pass it at the end uh to cop 30 to Brazil that’s why we are thinking
42:30 that it’s good chance to make it a successful not only in uh cop 28 frame
42:38 but also cop 29 and cop 30 [BA] well I I I know many members of dr Sultan’s team
42:44 are in the room so I think you know I I don’t think you know this yet but we’ll make an announcement today that do Sultan is actually offered you all no
42:51 I’m joking I’m not sure how that would go down but um but listen um it
42:58 listen I I see where you’re headed we all see where you’re headed what are the building blocks to translate the
43:04 historic ambition here at the UAE consensus into tangible implementation
43:09 at this point in including climate Finance, technology, development, transfer
43:15 um capacity building you know when you think about the kind of you know the the the whole 360 where are you where do you
43:22 see your priorities at this point I know you’re on a listenting toour you’re going to tell me that it’s all about you know the listening and the learning at
43:29 this point but but where do you where do you sketch a pathway at this point [MB] it is
43:35 not easy yeah and uh but it’s I think uh we
43:40 we have to do it we uh we needs to uh to make this
43:48 transition uh and transition to to Baku to Azerbaijan successful and uh we now we are
43:57 inviting all of the participants all of the parties
44:02 Society uh use all stakeholders to find
44:07 the um to to make the position close uh closely to uh would like to be the
44:15 interconnector between the global South and developed countries we we are now we
44:21 invite all of the parties to sit together to um to find the solution at
44:27 least to to make the position of the sides more closely I think it is our
44:34 main task and if we will uh find the consensus it will be very successful in
44:40 Baku China [KG] um I want to bring up a um
44:45 focus on something that cop 28 did and you need to protect it and grow it and I
44:51 would put it in a context of one of my favorite uh Stories the story is the
44:58 following God calls Moses and says Moses my son I have two
45:05 pieces of news for you one is good the other one is bad which one do you want
45:10 first moses says can I have the good news first God says the good news is you
45:17 would be able to raise your hand split the sea and take your people to safety
45:24 Moses says oh God thank you they cannot be bad news after that, not so
45:31 fast, before you do it you will have to prepare an environmental impact
45:37 [Laughter] [Applause]
45:45 assessment and the reason I’m telling this story is be because until cop
45:51 28 the predominant view was caring for the environment dealing with cl the
45:59 climate crisis is bad news and you turn this around you said it is actually an
46:08 opportunity for economies to grow differently to transform for the better
46:15 and we can protect our planet and still enjoy the improvements in quality of
46:22 life that green industrialization sustainable
46:28 agriculture getting green mobility in place they can bring to us [BA] wonder it was
46:34 the optimism I’m just thinking this through it was the optimism that that that caused many to to to raise a
46:40 cynical eyebrow to a certain extent I don’t know why that is you know in our human psychic as soon as somebody gets
46:46 very optimistic about something and provides a sort of optimistic solution to things you know good for economies
46:52 good for GR growth good for jobs that people get like well this is you know there’s something there’s something
46:58 slightly sort of you know worrying about all of that it shouldn’t be [KG] I actually have a reading of it we as human uh
47:05 beings uh we are actually geared to deal with Danger from the days we were
47:11 getting on our two feet to walk you know there are the animals there is this there is that so danger actually gears
47:19 us more than good times and yet I beg you be optimists because
47:28 pessimism doesn’t believe in much good for human beings [BA] Simon still good for
47:36 you Simon still um then with an optimistic sort of lens looking ahead
47:42 what do you think is needed to significantly move the needle next for
47:48 climate action [MR] so the first thing just kind of broadening the conversation and
47:54 the link between cops 28 29 and 30
47:59 history will be made um or what was achieved in
48:06 Dubai will be enshrined in history based on the successes of cops 29 and 30 there
48:12 is a very clear Arc so Dubai set out the
48:18 pathway this is what needs to be done and countries agreed to that. um with
48:25 whether it’s the transition away from the trebling the doubling um the phasing out phasing down etc etc that’s the
48:33 path the enabler for that to bring that to reality is what happens this year
48:39 with Finance means of implementation how to actually bring those words um into
48:46 life but where they actually land where the action starts is Brazil with cop 30
48:54 where countries need to come back with their new revised nationally determined
49:00 contri um contributions now these the lack of specificity and prescriptiveness
49:08 which surrounded the global stock take countries have to be specific and
49:15 prescriptive in terms of what they’re doing um economy-wide all greenhouse
49:21 gases but without success this year and the the finance Community has a heavy
49:29 lift and responsibility but then piecing that together um with those nationally
49:36 determined contributions which are developed this year MH and it’s the combining of these three that I believe
49:44 that optimism um can actually be celebrated so right now we cannot rest yeah um with
49:53 all that was achieved it is never enough mhm we have to now build on that and
49:59 Minister babyev and the team um have their work cut out for them with support and
50:05 an innovation that we’re bringing is this trer so to build on the energy and
50:10 the momentum coming out of Dubai together with uh the delivery
50:16 responsibility right now of the azabani um presidency but then Brazil and their
50:22 energy that they are bringing forward and how the three presidencies can work together to land 1.5 [BA]without putting a
50:30 dampener on the the kind of lens of optimism here I mean you convince that we
50:35 talked to Dr Sultan at the outset here about what what needs to happen now to keep 1.5 degrees Cent grade Within Reach
50:42 you’re you’re you’re convinced we can do that are you we have no choice that’s the fundamental reality there is no
50:50 choice there is no alternative [SAJ] and we need to change the mindset we need to
50:56 adopt a can do attitude we can no longer keep looking at this as a crisis it is a
51:02 true unique opportunity look when we started on the fact finding Mission we knew we were interested by the world to
51:08 conduct the first ever Global stock take and that was on its own an eyeopener of
51:13 how off track the world was and that’s when we took a bold decision to stick
51:20 our neck out to bring the world back on track and that’s why I refer to it as cop 28 being the course corrector we did
51:26 correct course we put it now through this framework of the UAE consensus and
51:32 work only begins now the fact that we are establishing the troika to ensure the
51:37 continuity of what has been delivered here at cop 28 in Dubai to continue in
51:43 tobacco and from bako to BM and Brazil shows you how committed how dedicated
51:49 and how determined we are to continue this the progress that has been made and achieved here here uh here in Dubai look
51:58 I must say in the very early days of our preparations one thing I know for a fact
52:05 our leadership was very clear about we’re not going to Kick the Can we’re
52:10 not going to Kick Kick the Can what we’re going to do is to add value and we look for every possible solution to help
52:18 advance and leap frog in this discussion and this was in my in a big way the
52:25 strategy that we adopted throughout and that’s why in our engagements all over the world we were always emphasizing the
52:33 need to raise the ambition and not to go for anything raising the ambition was a
52:38 critical success factor for us and I believe with the fact that we were able to bring on
52:44 board more than 40% of oil and gas production to sign up to methane zero
52:51 methane by 2030 and not zero before 2050 that please don’t take that for granted
52:58 that is an unprecedented achievement those companies were not even invited in
53:03 previous cops and the fact that they showed up and they made such a commitment that is a big step forward [BA] I
53:10 have to say I think that was one of the undersold headlines on uh that came out of uh uh this uh this cop um before we
53:18 wrap up and thank you um all of you um that is flown pass I said I didn’t think we would have it enough we’ got a couple
53:24 of minutes left. um I do want to take you back to before all of this started you just said you
53:31 know when we realize what we what we had in the global stock take which was we are way off course then you realize the
53:38 real work needed to be done and that’s when you realize that you had to raise the bar and it’s you know I’m sure there are countries around the world who say
53:45 look we just don’t have this you know all government approach this community approach this kind of mindset that says
53:52 we’re going to go at that I mean that’s something pretty unique uh here in the UAE but before before you had really
54:00 drilled down on what that Global stock take looked like you would accepted you know the the fact that you would host
54:06 cop 28 when you saw that did you anytime think you know I
54:12 don’t I don’t want this job not only the global stock take but the but the noise around your
54:19 appointment did you ever regret for a moment
54:26 accepting this job and knowing it was going to be one
54:32 hell of a year [SAJ] I never regretted accepting the job to be very honest with you I never no I never regretted it in
54:38 fact it was the challenge that drove my motivation it was the sheer size of
54:44 the problem that we have been entrusted with and the fact that our leadership
54:50 saw in me and my team the composition of a team that will help address This Global challenge was a
54:58 great honor and I did not want to miss out on this opportunity of showing the world what a small country like the
55:05 United Arab Emirates a Young Nation like the UAE can actually do as a true Global
55:11 Citizen and helping address such a global challenge we did not want to miss out on that opportunity and that’s the
55:16 same thing and it’s the same thing when we
55:23 were being pulled and pushed in different directions by many to include
55:29 or not to include fossil fuel. I did not blink for a second with the fact that
55:35 they did not want to miss out on that opportunity fossil fuel language was going to come today tomorrow or the day after in that text I want to take
55:42 ownership of that and I want my country to be recognized for that bold action and that’s exactly what
55:50 happened [BA] if there’s one piece of advice you have for Azerbaijan [SAJ] at this point it is is
56:00 what don’t regret [Laughter]
56:06 [Applause] acting like I said this is a stress test
56:13 for our systems and for the global system I promise you uh this is a great
56:20 opportunity for you to demonstrate your country’s ability and helping address such Global challenges you know that
56:28 everyone will support you. we know and you know that we believe in your capability please don’t let the noise
56:38 distract you. stay focused and clearly Define the ultimate goals and objectives
56:43 and continue to raise the bar very
56:49 high
