The International Energy Agency (IEA) organised a high-level meeting on February 20 to chalk out a reliable plan to achieve the COP28 agreement on transitioning away from fossil fuels, doubling energy efficiency improvements and tripling renewable energy capacity, among others.
Held at the agency’s headquarters in Paris, the meeting convened energy and climate leaders from across the globe to address the next steps that decision-makers must take to deliver on the crucial energy commitments made at the recently concluded Summit in Dubai.
The participants aim to ensure the door remains open to limiting global heating to 1.5 degrees Celsius, as stated in the 2015 Paris agreement. It comes as the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service recently confirmed 2023 as the hottest year on record.
Consensus reached at COP28 Dubai “very significant”
The February 20 meeting follows the IEA’s 2024 Ministerial Meeting and 50th Anniversary events in Paris on February 13 – 14. COP28 President Sultan Al Jaber also attended the latest discussions, besides IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol and other notable experts.
More than 50 ambassadors from multiple countries across Africa, Asia, Europe, Middle East, Latin America and North America also attended the Tuesday meeting, in addition to international thought leaders and energy industry executives.
“The consensus reached in Dubai is very significant for the global clean energy transition … But it will also require a lot of hard work on implementation and continued, ongoing analysis of progress and means to achieve these goals,” said Birol.
“Finance is the key enabler for climate action”
Participants at the meeting identified several key actions that must be taken in the near future, including securing more funding for clean energy transitions and enhancing the next round of National Determined Contributions (NDCs) that countries make under the Paris deal.
The COP28 President highlighted the need for all parties who signed the UAE Consensus to work on enhancing their Nationally Determined Contributions ahead of the next cycle in 2025.” “That work needs to start right now,” Dr Al Jaber stressed.
He underscored that “finance is the key enabler for climate action,” emphasising the pressing need to raise the bar to address the challenge humans face currently – “mobilising trillions rather than billions”, according to a recent report on the Hindustan Times.
