Comment on Sultan Al Jaber press conference

“Sultan Al Jaber’s commitment to delivering on climate finance is important in addressing the damage done by climate impacts. Wealthy countries like the UK are not fireproof; impacts elsewhere hurt us too. Right now, extreme heat in Asia is hitting nations that provide us with more than two thirds of a billion pounds worth of food we can’t grow at home including 10% of our coffee, £150m of nuts and spices, and £21m worth of rice.

“We also know we can put the fire out – the IPCC is clear we have the tools to halve emissions this decade and get the planet on track to keeping temperatures to 1.5°C. And the world’s biggest economies are pumping investment into those green technology tools, creating jobs and growth. But this will be easier when nations like the UAE – and the UK – shift focus away from production of fossil fuels which is only adding fuel to the fire, even as we try to extinguish it.”

Dr Al Jaber was speaking at the Petersberg Climate Dialogue in Berlin, Germany, where yesterday he called for action on areas including climate finance and adaptation to climate change [1].