SPEC John Kerry’s Meeting with UAE Climate Envoy and COP28 President Designate Sultan Al Jaber

US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry convened a meeting at the White House today with UAE Climate Envoy and COP28 President Designate H.E. Sultan Al Jaber to discuss opportunities for raising climate ambition and accelerating climate action on the road to COP28 in Dubai in December of this year. 

The meeting was attended by US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Senior Advisor to the President John Podesta, US Special Presidential Coordinator for Global Infrastructure & Energy Security Amos Hochstein, National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi, Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Arabi Prabhakar, NSC Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa Brett McGurk, UAE Ambassador Yousef Al Otaiba, and COP28 Director General Majid Al Suwaidi, among other senior UAE and US officials. 

The discussion covered the need to evolve the multilateral development bank system to help unlock additional climate finance, the role of the Inflation Reduction Act in accelerating investment and lowering costs in key clean technologies, and the imperative of investing in reliable global clean energy supply chains. Both sides recognized the role of the US-UAE Partnership for Accelerating Clean Energy (PACE) as a promising platform for helping to catalyze meaningful projects and investments in this regard. 

Both sides agreed to maintain regular dialogue on these and related issues in order to contribute to a successful COP28 and a well-managed energy transition that delivers enhanced climate action alongside energy security and affordability.