Ajay Banga, World Bank president, speaks during an interview at the COP28 UN Climate Summit, on Dec 4, 2023, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. (PHOTO / WAM - EMIRATES NEWS AGENCY)

DUBAI - Ajay Banga, president of the World Bank, underscored on Monday the significance of the ongoing 28th session of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP28), emphasizing that the event has already made substantial progress in advancing climate action initiatives.

Banga, speaking to the Emirates News Agency (WAM) on the sidelines of the conference at Expo City Dubai, added, "COP28 is a very important conference because what it's doing is not just bringing people together, but it provides certainty about the deadline that everyone wanting to make any real commitment must adhere to."

He highlighted that the presidency of COP28, represented by Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, the United Arab Emirates' minister of industry and advanced technology and COP28 president, has made remarkable efforts in bringing everyone together at one table, pointing out that since its inception, the conference has seen the issuance of many important and positive announcements.

Ajay Banga, president of the World Bank, stated that the bank also made good announcements during COP28, including financing for climate projects, connecting 100 million people in Africa to solar energy, efforts to reduce methane gas in highly specific projects, as well as voluntary carbon markets

Banga explained that during the Conference of the Parties, the extremely ambitious ALTÉRRA fund was announced, which is the largest investment fund to stimulate global climate action, with an initial capital of $30 billion, marking a new global achievement in boosting climate action efforts.

He stated that the World Bank also made good announcements during COP28, including financing for climate projects, connecting 100 million people in Africa to solar energy, efforts to reduce methane gas in highly specific projects, as well as voluntary carbon markets.

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Banga mentioned the launch of the Global Climate Finance Centre, which is a crucial effort to establish a centralized educational center for climate finance, involving BlackRock, HSBC, and many other institutions.

Also on Monday, Abu Dhabi announced the hosting of the Global Climate Finance Centre as a leading institution that will accelerate the development of frameworks and skills in climate finance, supporting best practices in the UAE and globally, aiming to address major challenges associated with financial frameworks that hinder investment flows to help make climate finance accessible, affordable, and inclusive.

Banga said, "We need the resources and innovation of the private sector, and we need everyone involved in taking the lead, and this partnership embodied in the Global Climate Finance Centre at this level of collaboration helps expand the scope of smart, low-carbon investment solutions in the climate field."

Many global institutions, in addition to the Abu Dhabi Global Market, participated in establishing the Global Climate Finance Centre, including ADQ, BlackRock, Children's Investment Fund Foundation, the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero, HSBC, Masdar, Ninety One, and the World Bank Group.

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Banga pointed out that the UAE has provided the opportunity to host all these initiatives here, adding, "I believe this could become a hub for understanding how to mobilize capital towards emerging markets to combat climate change."