20 July 2023
H.E. Majid Al Suwaidi, Director General of COP28, stressed the importance of broad participation in COP28, and strong collective action from all stakeholders during a business briefing hosted by the U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council in Washington, D.C. on 20 July 2023. This briefing, which had over 150 companies represented in-person and virtually, is the fourth time that Al Suwaidi has met the Business Council’s members as part of the Council’s extensive COP28 programming. Al Suwaidi separately met in Washington, D.C. this week with Administration officials, Members of Congress, and international financial institutions, in addition to policy analysts, climate NGOs, and the diplomatic community.
At the briefing, U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council President Danny Sebright announced a number of new initiatives the Business Council will undertake in the road to COP28, and programming it will conduct during COP28 in Dubai. Sebright said the Business Council’s work will be focused in two main areas: connecting its members broadly with the COP28 team so as to provide the most inclusive and impactful business participation, and undertaking a number of thematic substantive briefings that will take place at COP and reflect the overall priorities of the summit.
Al Suwaidi detailed the U.A.E.’s recently outlined COP28 strategy, which includes four pillars:
1. Fast Tracking the Energy Transition and Slashing Emissions before 2030
2. Delivering Old Promises and Setting the Framework for a New Deal on Finance
3. Putting Nature, People, Lives, and Livelihoods at the Heart of Climate Action
4. Mobilizing for the Most Inclusive COP
Al Suwaidi underlined that these pillars are a result of the COP28 team’s 6-month listening tour, in which they collaborated with a wide range of stakeholders including governments, civil society, NGOs, activists, young people, and Indigenous Peoples, as well as the private sector.
He noted that COP28 will be an extraordinarily important COP because it is the first Global Stocktake of the Paris Agreement. Al Suwaidi emphasized the importance of taking immediate action to course correct and reach the 1.5 degrees celsius goal. To this point, Al Suwaidi said that COP28 intends to deliver the pathways for the world to get back on track in achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement.
Al Suwaidi gave an overview of what the U.A.E. is planning on the ground during COP28, which will be held at Expo City Dubai. Programming at COP28 will deliver inclusive action-oriented content, mobilize a cross-workstream approach, and ensure COP’s guiding principles remain at the heart of programming. Al Suwaidi implored the business community to get engaged early and bring solutions to the COP.
COP28 is organized under a two week thematic program, which includes 7 thematic days found here. The entire COP schedule including the theme days can be found below.
November 30th: Opening Day
December 1st: World Climate Action Summit
December 2nd: World Climate Action Summit
December 3rd: Health/Relief, Recovery and Peace
December 4th: Finance/Trade/Gender Equality Accountability
December 5th: Energy, Industry, and Just Transition
December 6th: Parliament Day Multilevel Action, Urbanization and Built Environment/Transport
December 7th: Rest Day
December 8th: Youth, Children, Education, and Skills
December 9th: Nature, Land Use, and Oceans
December 10th: Food, Agriculture and Water
December 11th: No theme day
December 12th: No theme day
COP28 will notably include the “World Climate Action Summit,” on December 1st and 2nd, which is the leading forum for public-private partnerships alongside COP.
For more information on this event or to engage with the Business Council’s COP28 programming, and to connect directly with the COP28 team, please contact Graham Reitman at greitman@usuaebusiness.org.
