The COP28 Presidency, together with its partners, announced a series of ambitious new initiatives at the Global Climate Action Summit, committing an initial investment of 6.3 billion dirhams (USD 1.7 billion) to achieve climate and biodiversity targets.
President of COP28 and former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva announced a two-year partnership to gather new resources and political support for nature conservation, leading up to COP30, set to be held in Belém, Brazil.
Razan Al Mubarak, the United Nations Climate Leader for COP28, stated that the conference presidency has placed biodiversity and nature conservation at the core of climate action. This leadership has encouraged collaborative efforts and support from non-governmental entities, recognizing the critical role of natural resources in combating climate change. This approach is not limited to COP28 but extends to all future Conferences of the Parties.
During the session, national and regional leaders announced investment plans focusing on nature-based climate action to fulfill the goals of the Paris Agreement and the recently adopted Kunming-Montreal Global Framework for Biodiversity.
The highlights of the session included:
Razan Al Mubarak announced the UAE’s contribution of USD 100 million to fund nature conservation and climate projects, with an initial investment of USD 30 million to support Ghana’s “Climate Resilience in Ghana” plan.
Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo launched the “Enhancing Climate Resilience in Ghana” plan, receiving an additional USD 50 million in support from Canada, Singapore, the United States, and private sector initiatives, along with USD 30 million from the UAE.
Tongan Prime Minister Siaosi Sovaleni announced a USD 100 million funding for small island developing states in the Pacific from the Bezos Earth Fund, supporting the “Blue Pacific Prosperity Plan” to protect 30% of their waters by 2030.
A coalition of charitable institutions, including Bloomberg Philanthropies, Builders Vision, and Oceankind, announced a new funding of USD 250 million for the Ocean Resilience and Climate Alliance (ORCA), aimed at protecting vulnerable marine areas, mitigating climate change impacts on oceans, and supporting climate-related research.
French President Emmanuel Macron announced three funding packages for forests, including USD 100 million for Papua New Guinea, USD 60 million for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and USD 50 million for the Republic of the Congo, to stimulate private financing for environmental conservation and local development.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre announced a USD 100 million partnership to support Indonesia’s leading FOLU Net Sink plan, aiming to reduce carbon emissions in forest and land-use areas by 2030.
The Asian Development Bank, OPEC Fund for International Development, Saudi Arabia, the French Development Agency, and France announced the Green Financing Facility for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in the Green Climate Fund, launching a new finance center focused on nature. This initiative commits to gathering USD 1 billion from development partners and mobilizing an additional USD 2 billion in private funding by 2030 for nature-based climate action projects.
These new nature and climate plans extend previous commitments, including the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use, endorsed by 145 countries at COP26, and the historic Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, approved by 196 countries last December. The framework aims to completely halt biodiversity loss by 2030.
Addressing biodiversity loss could save USD 104 billion in adaptation and mitigation costs and contribute over 30% of the necessary actions to mitigate impact by 2030. Additionally, about 50% of the global GDP directly or indirectly depends on nature and environmental resources.
Ecosystem conservation and efficiency restoration are fundamental to economic prosperity, providing about 395 million job opportunities and protecting the livelihoods of a billion people who directly depend on nature.
Leaders, including Maria José Andrade Card of the Kichwa de Serena indigenous people in Ecuador, emphasized the pivotal role of indigenous communities in ecosystem conservation. Indigenous peoples, representing only 5% of the global population, protect 80% of the Earth’s biodiversity.
The focus on these communities and their development is a key aspect of the partnership between the UAE and Brazil from COP28 to COP30. Indigenous leaders from the seven socio-cultural regions opened this session with climate researcher Johan Rockström, highlighting the importance of these initiatives and announcements.
The session was held in conjunction with the UAE’s National Day and precedes the Nature, Land Use, and Oceans Day scheduled for December 9 at COP28, emphasizing the importance of nature in climate action.
The United Arab Emirates hosts COP28 at Expo City Dubai from November 30 to December 12, 2023. The conference is expected.
