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In the months leading up to COP28, the UAE is looking at ways to reform international finance for climate action.

The COP28 presidency is convening a meeting of world-leading economists, private sector leaders, and UN climate change officials in Abu Dhabi on August 15-16 at the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) to discuss ways to reform international finance for climate action.

The COP28 Presidency and the Independent High-Level Expert Group (IHLEG) will host the two-day meeting on climate finance. 

The IHLEG is a group of experts who develop and present policy options and recommendations to enable the public and private investment necessary for the delivery of the ambitions of the Paris Agreement. It is chaired by Dr. Vera Songwe and Professor Lord Nicholas Stern, and Dr. Amar Bhattacharya serves as executive secretary.

The meeting is intended to lay the groundwork for COP28 and ensure that the two-week summit produces concrete action on reforming international finance.

The IHLEG will develop a roadmap of actions to advance a comprehensive financial framework for resource mobilization to deliver an equitable and efficient climate finance system, as outlined in the Paris Agreement and Glasgow Pact, and to begin its implementation.

This action roadmap will be carried out leading up to and during COP28 and beyond to COP29 and COP30. The IHLEG will build on the Paris Summit action agenda and the ongoing work on multilateral development bank (MDB) reform at the G20, as well as explore ways to overcome geopolitical constraints and identify gaps and barriers that may necessitate targeted interventions.

The meeting will be attended by Ahmed Jasim Al Zaabi, Chairman of Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (ADDED) and ADGM; Lord Nicholas Stern and Dr. Vera Songwe, co-chairs of the IHLEG, and Amar Bhattacharya, executive secretary of the IHLEG, Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the IMF, senior representatives from the World Bank as well as other economists from across the world.

“We are proud to host the Independent High-Level Expert Group meeting in Abu Dhabi this year and collaborate with global experts in forging a path towards a greener, more sustainable future that focuses on climate finance,” said Ahmed Jasim Al Zaabi, Chairman of the ADDED and ADGM.