SimplyAbuDhabi XLIII

As you gather for these critical negotiations, the hope of the world rests on the decisions you must take. I can only encourage you to consider some practical questions which might inform the task ahead of you: Firstly, how can our multilateral organisations – which were established at a different time for different challenges – be strengthened for the crisis we face? How can we bring together our public, private, philanthropic and N.G.O. sectors ever more effectively, so that they all play their part in delivering climate action, each complementing the unique strengths of the others? Public finance alone will never be sufficient. But with the private sector firmly at the table, and a better, fairer international financial system, combined with the innovative use of risk reduction tools like first loss risk guarantees, we could mobilize the trillions of dollars we need – in the order of four-and-a-half to five trillion a year – to drive the transformation we need. Secondly, how can we ensure that finance flows to those developments most essential to a sustainable future, and away from practices that make our world more dangerous – across every industry in every part of the world? I have, for instance, been heartened by some of the steps taken by parts of the insurance sector, which plays such a vital role in incentivizing more sustainable approaches and providing an invaluable source of investment to reduce the risks we face. Thirdly, how can we accelerate innovation and the deployment of renewable energy, of clean technology and other green alternatives, to move decisively towards investment in this vital transition across all industries? For instance, how can we increase investments in regenerative agriculture, which can be a Nature-positive carbon sink? What incentives are necessary – and how can those which have a perverse impact be eliminated with all due speed? Fourthly, how can we bring together different solutions and initiatives to ensure coherent, long-term approaches across sectors, countries and industries? For virtually every artificial source of greenhouse gas emissions, there are alternatives or mitigations which can be put in place. That is why it is encouraging to see industry transition plans being developed, both nationally and globally, which will help each sector of our global economy onto practical pathways to a zero-carbon, Nature-positive future. Fifthly, howcanwe forge an ambitious newvision for the next one hundred years? How can we draw on the extraordinary ingenuity of our societies – the ideas, knowledge and energy of our young people, our artists, our engineers, our communicators, and, importantly, our Indigenous peoples – to imagine a sustainable future for people everywhere?Afuture that is in harmony with Nature, not set against her. Ladies and gentlemen, in your hands is an unmissable opportunity to keep our common hope alive. I can only urge you to meet it with ambition, imagination, and a true sense of the emergency we face, and together with a commitment to the practical action upon which our shared future depends. After all, Ladies and Gentlemen, in 2050 our grandchildren won’t be asking what we said, they will be living with the consequences of what we did or didn’t do. So, if we act together to safeguard our precious planet, the welfare of all our people will surely follow. We need to remember that the indigenous world view teaches us that we are all connected. Not only as human beings, but with all living things and all that sustains life. As part of this grand and sacred system, harmony with Nature must be maintained. The Earth does not belong to us, we belong to the Earth. King Charles III at COP28 Simply Abu Dhabi | 175