Collaboration must step up to stay on Paris goal tracks

Governments and the private sector must step up collaboration and come armed with fast and concrete solutions at the next UN climate conference Cop 28, to try and keep the goals of the Paris agreement within reach, delegates at the Davos World Economic Forum heard today.

Cop 28 will see the conclusion of the global stocktake, a process started at Cop 26, which will probably confirm that the world is not on track to hit the goal of the Paris agreement, director general and special representative of Cop 28 Majid al-Suwaidi said.

The 2015 Paris climate agreement calls for global warming to stay "well below" a 2°C rise in pre-industrial temperatures and ideally limit it to a 1.5°C rise.

"It is very clear that we need to deliver real pragmatic solutions and practical outcomes that will get us back on track to achieving less than 1.5°C and the $100bn/yr financial target," he said.

"We can hit 1.5°C, but we are not on track to do it now. And it is not absolutely clear that we will get on track," US climate envoy John Kerry said, adding that the world was currently heading for a 2.5°C temperature rise.

Because of the global stocktake, Cop 28 is a "milestone Cop" and will have to deliver a balanced outcome across the board, on adaptation, loss and damage and mitigation. "If we know we are not on track, inevitably this means we will have to take serious mitigation steps," al-Suwaidi said.

He added that huge progress is needed to unlock financing in order to accelerate the energy transition. "We believe that this is the year when we need to get serious in looking at how finance is translating into real projects on the ground," he said.

He said that the UAE will aim to bring "the right people" to the conference and try to bring governments and private sector together, as well as the civil society. A mission that will be helped by the fact that Cop 28 president and Adnoc chief executive Sultan Ahmed al-Jaber "understands governments and the private sector", according to al-Suwaidi.

Kerry said that around $1 trillion in investments are being spent in renewables and new technologies projects, but up to $4.5 trillion/yr are needed for the next 30 years. No government has enough money to plug those trillions, he added. "So like it or not we must find a way to create the incentives that bring the private sector to the table," Kerry said.

Al-Suwaidi said that finance must be reformed, and many panellists during the WEF pointed at the need to change the way multilateral development banks (MDBs) work. UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres said that MDBs must change their business model and be first risk-takers in coalitions of financial institutions.

Kerry said that shareholders in the World Bank, including the US, Germany, France, the UK, Italy and Spain, were "impatient" to move forward with a reform of the institution. "It has the ability, if you do it right, to significantly increase the amount of money for concessional lending," he said. And that leverage will allow the de-risk of some deals and attract investors, Kerry said, "as they are not going to be the last in line for repayment".

By Caroline Varin