COP28 UAE: Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber named President-Designate

The UAE has announced the names of the individuals who will be leading and driving UAE’s activities for the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28)

The UAE will host the annual climate summit at Expo City, Dubai, from November 30 – December 12.

Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Court, appointed Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber as President-Designate for COP28, on Thursday, according to the state news agency, WAM.

Dr Al Jaber, who is the Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology (MoIAT), has served as Special Envoy for Climate Change for two terms (2010–2016, 2020–present) and played a key role at over ten COPs, including the Paris COP21 in 2015.

He is also the MD and group CEO of ADNOC and chairman of Masdar.

Sultan Al Jaber, UAE Special Envoy for Climate Change, named as President-Designate for #COP28#WamVideo pic.twitter.com/f4UQjGUKt3

— WAM English (@WAMNEWS_ENG) January 12, 2023

Dr Al Jaber, the first CEO to ever serve as COP president, has played a key role in shaping the country’s clean energy path. He said this will be a “critical year in a critical decade for climate action. The UAE is approaching COP28 with a strong sense of responsibility and the highest possible level of ambition”.

He added: “In cooperation with the UNFCCC and the COP27 Presidency, we will champion an inclusive agenda that ramps up action on mitigation, encourages a just energy transition that leaves no one behind, ensures substantial, affordable climate finance is directed to the most vulnerable, accelerates funding for adaptation and builds out a robust funding facility to address loss and damage.

“COP28 will undertake the first ever Global Stocktake (GST) since the Paris Agreement. The GST will provide the foundation to build momentum for this and future COPs and the UAE will look for an ambitious outcome in response to the GST from the negotiation process. This will be a critical moment to mobilise political will to respond to what the science tells us will need to be achieved to remain on target and limit global warming to 1.5C by 2050.”

Championing sustainability at COP28

Shamma Al Mazrui, UAE Minister of State for Youth Affairs, and Razan Al Mubarak, president of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), will join the COP28 UAE team as the Youth Climate Champion and UN Climate Change High-Level Champion, respectively, reported WAM.

Al Mazrui is also the vice chair of the Arab Youth Centre, the secretary general of the Education and Human Resources Council, the chairperson for Special Olympics UAE, and the president of the National Centre for Education Quality.

Currently, as president of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Al Mubarak is responsible for implementing the vision, mission, and strategy of the organisation, which represents over 1,400 members, including states, government agencies and non-government organisations from 160 countries.

The new champions will mobilise action from businesses, investors, organisations, cities, regions, and all of civil society, including youth, in the run-up to and at the annual climate summit.

Strong leadership team in place

Following the official announcement of the UAE as the host of COP28, a National Higher Committee was formed on June 23, 2022, to oversee preparations for the conference. The committee is chaired by Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and includes senior officials from several authorities.

Dr Al Jaber is the vice chairman of the committee that is responsible for supervising COP28 preparations.

Mariam bint Mohammed Saeed Hareb Almheiri, Minister of Climate Change and Environment, will continue to lead the UAE’s domestic efforts in addressing climate change.

Plans for COP28

As the COP28 host, the UAE will aim to build consensus and coalitions to achieve a practical, pragmatic, and just energy transition and reform land use and food systems, while scaling up adaptation and operationalising the new loss and damage fund.

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, who will gather to discuss climate change while showcasing innovative solutions that can support multilateral cooperation and climate diplomacy.