UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan announced on Friday on the second day of COP28 the launch of a private fund in collaboration with asset management giant BlackRock dedicated to “solutions” to climate change.
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“I am pleased to announce the creation of a $30 billion climate solutions fund,” the sovereign said at the opening of the Summit of Heads of State and Government of the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference, adding that the goal is aims to reach $250 billion by 2030.
This is the most important announcement from the COP28 host country on Friday, just before King Charles III. and the UN Secretary-General are speaking on the same platform, while several mechanisms and reforms are in the works worldwide to increase renewable energy financing in developing countries.
According to a press release, the new Emirati fund, called Altérra, will be led by Sultan Al Jaber, president of COP28 and head of the Emirates’ national oil company.
The host is the United Arab Emirates-based fund manager Lunate. Altérra’s first partners include the world’s largest asset manager BlackRock as well as the Canadian asset manager Brookfield and the American TPG.
BlackRock explained in a press release the nature of this partnership, which would allow Altérra to direct $2 billion into the global giant’s transition-focused investment vehicles (a private debt fund and an infrastructure fund).
This fund is intended to “advance international efforts to create more equitable climate finance, with a focus on improving access to finance for countries in the South,” the press release said.
This initiative is part of the Emirates’ overall strategy for COP28, which aims to further involve the private sector in discussions and solutions through voluntary, full commitments.
Public money “will not be enough” to meet needs, Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan told many speakers at the opening of a forum for businesses and charities parallel to the heads of state summit.
“Emerging and developing countries will need $2.4 trillion per year to respond to climate change,” the Emirates said in its statement.
A first project to install solar and wind turbines in India with an output of 6 gigawatts is mentioned, two others in Africa and Latin America are still being examined.