Former UN Secretary-General urges for climate action over ‘visions’ at COP28

• Ban asked the COP28 presidency to think about “harmonization” between adaptation, loss, and damage.
• Ban signed an agreement with Dubai Cares.
• This year should focus on action rather than aspirations, Ban says.

Climate talks in the United Arab Emirates this year should focus on action rather than aspirations, according to former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who visited the oil-rich Gulf country.

“Many countries and many people have already provided visions, so we may not require any more,” he said on Saturday in Dubai.

“We need a COP of solutions and a COP of action.”

The South Korean ambassador, who co-chairs the Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens, was in the UAE this weekend to announce a cooperation with Dubai Cares, a civil society organization focusing on teaching “green skills” to youth.

The most recent UN climate talks, held in Egypt in November, concluded with a historic agreement to establish a “loss and damage” fund to compensate the costs incurred by developing nations as a result of climate-related natural disasters and delayed effects such as sea level rise.

However, observers were unhappy that little progress had been made in lowering greenhouse-gas emissions from fossil fuels.

Ban asked the COP28 presidency to think about “harmonization” between adaptation, loss, and damage.

Developing countries

“We must assist developing countries in adapting to new conditions… (but) what about the situations that have already been destroyed and lost?” he said.

“We must assist them in recovering from this loss and damage.”

The UAE, a major petroleum producer, and exporter, appointed the chairman of its national oil corporation to preside over this year’s COP28 climate negotiations, provoking outrage from environmentalists.

The wealthy country maintains that oil is still essential to the world economy while promoting carbon capture – extracting carbon dioxide, the principal greenhouse gas, as fuel is burned or from the air.

During his visit, Ban signed an agreement with Dubai Cares to start an environmental training program for adolescents.

During the signing ceremony, Tariq Al Gurg, chief executive and vice chairman of Dubai Cares, told that the alliance aims to teach 10,000 young people.

“There is no answer to climate without education. We shall suffer if education is not accompanied by climate change. That is why those two must marry “Al Gurg stated.

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