Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Reuters
Britain’s King Charles III said on Friday the world was “dreadfully far off track” on addressing climate change and that the global economy would be in peril unless the environment was rapidly repaired.
In an opening address to the COP28 UN climate summit, King Charles III told world leaders the dangers of climate change were no longer a distant risk, and urged them to take more action.
Britain’s King Charles III attends the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on 1st December, 2023. PICTURE: Reuters/Amr Alfiky
“I pray with all my heart that COP28 will be another critical turning point towards genuine transformational action,” he said, in reference to the 2015 summit held in France.
“We are seeing alarming tipping points being reached.”
After a year of record temperatures, the pressure is on for this year’s summit to accelerate action to limit climate change. Countries, however, are divided over the future of fossil fuel, the burning of which is the main cause of climate change.
The summit, which runs until 12th December, clinched an early victory on Thursday, with delegates adopting a new fund to help poor nations cope with costly climate disasters.
The King, whose role is ceremonial but is attending the summit on behalf of the British government and after an invite from host nation the United Arab Emirates, did not single out any group in his speech, his first major climate address as Britain’s monarch.
He instead spoke about how to involve multilateral organisations and the private sector, the role of the insurance sector and speeding up innovation in renewable energy.
Charles cited the impact of climate change globally, including floods in India and Pakistan and severe wildfires in the United States, Canada and Greece.
“Unless we rapidly repair and restore nature’s unique economy, based on harmony and balance, which is our ultimate sustainer, our own economy and survivability will be imperilled,” he said.
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Meanwhile, Brazil on Friday unveiled a proposal at the COP28 climate summit to set up a global fund to finance forest conservation that it hopes can raise $US250 billion from sovereign wealth funds and other investors, including the oil industry.
The proposal, presented at a panel during the meeting in Dubai, provides for funding to 80 countries that have tropical forests to help maintain their trees, with annual payments based on the hectares conserved or restored.
The Brazilian Government said the proposal, called “Tropical Forests Forever”, aims to fill a gap that currently exists in financing mechanisms that mostly focus on payments for carbon capture or environmental services.
“There is an urgent need for large-scale financial resources to protect tropical forests, their biodiversity and the people who live in, protect and depend on these forests,” according to the presentation of the initiative.
The plan unveiled by Brazilian Environment Minister Marina Silva and Finance Minister Fernando Haddad calls for the creation of an innovative global instrument to remunerate the maintenance and restoration of tropical forests.
Brazil is asking other countries to contribute to the final design of the fund.
“It is the countries with tropical forests that will contribute to improving this proposal, so that it truly becomes a formal initiative,” the Brazilian climate negotiator Andre Correa do Lago told Reuters.
Among criteria for countries that participate in the fund, annual deforestation rates must remain below a percentage yet to be defined, and must be decreasing or remain very low. Countries that deforest would be penalized with discounted funding.
The initial fundraising target, according to the Brazilian government’s presentation, is $US250 billion. The funds would be deposited at a global organization, which could raise further resources by issuing low-risk bonds.
